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II 



■^^T" 



THE 



DOUKHOBORS 



Their History in Russia 
Their Migration to Canada 



, BY 



JOSEPH ELKINTON 



Illustrated with Numerous Photographs of the 

doukhobors and their surroundings, 

WITH Portraits and Maps. 




FERRIS & LEACH, Publishers 

29-31 North Seventh Street 
1903 






IHn LiLRARY Cr" 
C0NGRES5. 

Two Copies Received j 

PES 2! '^.03 I 

-O Copyrigh-i tritry | 

CLASS (X^ XXc. No. f 

COPY b. ^ 



Copyright, 1903, by Joseph Elkiktok. 



i 



;i7^ 



JUcMcatcb 



TO THE MEMORY OF MY BELOVED FRIEND 

,; JOHN BELLOWS 

"* AND TO MY FATHER 

JOSEPH S. ELKINTON 

IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OP HIS INVALUABLE 

SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE 

DOUKHOBORS 



-wm 



•n 



^ \) t El u k I) b r 




COMMISSIONER WM. F. MCCREARY AND HIS WINTER CONVEYANCE FOR 

TRAVELING OVER THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES ARRANGING 

FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 

Winter 1898-1899. 



CONTENTS. 



Inteoduction 



Book I. — The Doukhobors in Canada. 

CHAPTEB 

I. — Personal Experiences of the Author while 
VISITING their Communities . 

II. — The Problem of Education and Training . 

III. — The Doukhobors as Homemakers 

IV. — Relations with the Civil Authorities 



PAOB 
1 



17 

77 

98 

111 



Book II. — The Exodus from Russia. 

I. — The Recent Persecutions . . .145 

II. —The Emigration .... 171 

III. — The Canadian Settlement . . .212 

Book III. — The Doukhobors in Russia. 

I.— National Religious Character . . 239 

II.— Tradition and Early History . . .242 

III.— The Faith op the Doukhobors . . 265 

IV.— The Raskolniks and other Dissenters . 286 

v. — The Mir ..... 299 

VI. — The Government Officials . . .305 

VII.— Russian Political History, 862-1901 . 309 



Index 



329 



ILLUSTEATIOlSrS. 

Commissioner W. F. McCreary and his winter convey- 
ance FOR TRAVELING OVER THE NORTHWEST TERRI- 
TORIES, ARRANGING FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF THE 
DOTJKHOBORS .... Half-title 

"Grandmother" Verigin and the Patriarch Ivan 

Mahortov .... Frontispiece 



OPP. 
PAGK 
DOTTKHOBOR CoSTUME, SHOWING PRAYER SASH AND MAR- 
RIAGE Scarp . . . . .1 

Group. — Eliza H. Varney, J. Obed Smith, Joseph 

Elkinton ..... 17 

Map of the Doukhobor Settlements in the North- 
west Territories . . . . .18 

Map op the South Colony Doukhobor Reserve 20 

Frank Pedley, Superintendent op Immigration, 

Ottawa ..... 28 

Charles W. Spiers, General Colonization Agent 28 

Immigration Hall, Winnipeg . . . .31 

Group of Immigrants in Yard op Immigration Hall 31 

"Sunrise Service" . . . . . 32 

Crossing the Saskatchewan River — Petrofka Ferry 38 

Prairie Trail and Slough, West Bank op the Sas- 
katchewan . . . . .38 

Women Waiting to extend a Welcome to Arriving 

Guests ..... 39 

A Typical House, with Sod Roof . . .39 



Illustrations. vii 

OPP. 
PAGK 

DouKHOBOR Team ; with thb Mennonitb Reserve in 

THE Distance ..... 42 

The Sherbinin Homestead . . . .42 

Ready for the Start, to Visit the Saskatchewan 

Villages ..... 43 

Village Scene at Eventide . . . .44 

A Model Home ..... 44 

A Baby Show . . . . . .45 

Group of Chanting Girls .... 46 

Sheepskin Coat and Doukhobor Doll . . 46 

" Sweet Sixteen " ..... 47 

Baking Pancakes . . . . .47 

Yorkton Doukhobors .... 48 

Blacksmith Shop . . . . .48 

Men Serving as Horses .... 49 

"Grandmother" Verigin's Home . . .60 

The Patriarch Teacher and His School . . 61 

Village Children and Saw Mill . . .62 

Group of Saskatchewan Doukhobors . . 63 

Families op Exiles, Showing Persian Rugs Brought 

by Them from the Caucasus. . . .64 

Wife and Family of a Siberian Exile . . 65 

A Doukhobor Family of typical physique . . 65 

Barbara Verigin and her household . . 66 

"Grandmother's" Surrey . . . .67 

Arrival of Peter Verigin at Terpenie . . 72 

Terpenie (White Sand River), ihe Model Village 72 



viii Illust/pations. 

OPP. 
PAGE 

WiNTEK Scenes in the Doukhobor Villages . . 73 

Portrait op Eliza H. Varney ... 82 

Portrait of Nellie Baker . . . .83 

Nellie Baker's Classes . . . . 84 

Some op Nellie Baker's Pupils . . .85 

Women working in the pields preparing for wheat 

SOWING ..... 101 

Map of the Dottkhobor Settlements in the Russian 

Empire . . . . . .145 

The first shipload of Doukhobors arriving at 

Halifax ..... 188 

Hon. James A. Smart, Deputy Minister of the Interior 191 

Deck Scenes on the Lake Superior . . .201 

Doukhobors assembled to bid farewell to William 

Bellows . . . . .210 

Doukhobor Women drawing plough . . . 216 

First houses built by the Doukhobors, Yorkton 

Colony ..... 218 

Interior view of one op the log houses erected by 
THE Canadian Government, and used by the 
Doukhobors for temporary shelter . . 219 

Outside Bake-Ovens. — the first structures erected 
BY the Doukhobors upon their arrival at their 
settlements . . ... 220 

Doukhobor Ferries ..... 222 

Helpers of the Doukhobors. — Sergius Tolstoi, Anna 
DE Carousa, Leopold Soulerjitzky, Sasha Satz, 
Prince D. A. Hilkov, William F. McCreary, 
Maria Robitz .... 226 

Joseph James Neave, John Bellows, Hermann Fast 297 

SCHAMYL, THE CIRCASSIAN PROPHET-CHIEF, 1797-1871 . 316 



K£MW 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 

Doukhobor costume, showing prayer sash and marriage 
scarf. See page 45. 



mTRODUCTION. 

In his admirable history of " The Dutch and 
Quaker Colonies in America," John Fiske reviews 
the migrations during the past three centuries of re- 
ligious sects from the continent of Europe to Amer- 
ica. Had his book been withheld until a year later 
it might have recorded the arrival upon our shores 
of another persecuted people, in some respects the 
most remarkable of them all. Their fearful suffer- 
ings in Russia a nd Transcaucasia remind us of those 
endured by the Huguenots and Wa ldenses in Fran ce 
during the Seventeenth Century. 

Many 4 ^gsenters f rom the Russian Orthodox 
Church have been exiled to the Caucasus and Si- 
beria within the past century because of their relig- 
ious views. Among these the Doukhobors. or Spint- 
" W-Tcstlers^ claim the special interest and sympathy 
of all w] ^ beli eve in the prin ci ple of non -resistance. 

In this connection the words of Fiske, in his in- 

I H II I I I 

troduction to the chapter on " Penn's Holy Experi- 
ment," apply most appropriately: "A careful study 
of religious persecution shows us that sometimes 
politics, and sometimes religion, have been most ac- 
tively concerned in it. The persecution of the Chris- 
tians by the Roman emperors was chiefly political, 
because Christianity asserted a dominion over men 
paramount to that of the Emperor; while ' Let us 



^ INTRODUCTION. 

get rid of the unclean thing lest we be cursed for its 
sake ' has been the feeling which has mostly sus- 
tained persecution.'' 

" In Christianity the separation of the Church 
from the State took its rise; and while religion was 
made an affair of mankind, not of localities or tribes, 
the importance of the individual has greatly in- 
creased. The moment we cease to regard religious 
truth as a rigid body of formulas, imparted to man- 
kind once for all and incapable of further interpreta- 
tion or expansion; the moment we come to look upon 
religion as a part of the souFs development, under 
the immediate influence of the Spirit of God; the 
moment we concede to individual judgment some 
weight in determining what the individual form of 
religious expression shall be, that moment we have 
taken the first step toward the conclusion that a dead 
uniformity of opinion in religious questions is unde- 
sirable. In the presence of an Eternal Reality which 
confessedly transcends our human comprehension in 
many ways, we are not entitled to frown or to sneer 
at our neighbor's view, but if we give it due atten- 
tion, we may find in it more or less that is helpful 
and uplifting which we have overlooked." 

Primarily this history of the Doukhobors was un- 
dertaken as an appeal for the Christian principle of 
peace, — a principle universal in its application, and 
sorely needed by the world to-day. The Doukhobors 
at this moment stand forth to the public mind as 
representing this principle. Indeed, these patient 



INTRODUCTION. d 

sufferers have adopted for themselves the name of 
" The Christian Communitj of the Universal Broth- 
erhood," based upon C hri st ^s^ c ommand to lo ve all 
men. And this command cannot be set aside as *^ ini^ 
practicable/' when the whole Christian Church sus- 
tained it inviolate for more than two centuries. " To 
the physical violence of the Komans the Early 
Christians opposed a strength of trust in God, an in- 
difference to their personal fate, a purity of life, a 
love for their persecutors, and a willingness to suffer 
always as Christians, — ^not as law-breakers, — which 
gave their martyr blood that propagating power 
which made it ^ the seed of the Church.' Thus the 
Church, by means of the passive virtues, won the 
first great victory for peace over the world's greatest 
military empire, which remains an unexplained mir- 
acle, unless we admit that the powers on which she 
relied are actually greater than those which the em- 
pire employed."* 

If the professing followers of Christ had only con- 
tinued such a warfare as this during the intervening 
centuries, their history would not have been written 
in the blood of their enemies, neither would we have 
had to-day so incongruous a spectacle as that of 
Buddhist priests appealing to Christian missionaries 
to regard the teachings of the Prince of Peace, when 
He declared that His kingdom was not of this world, 
and that His servants did not fight. 

* Elbert Russell. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The name JOoakhobor (k almost silent, and accent 
on last syllable) has come to designate the distin- 
guishing characteristic of the people to whom it was 
originally given in derision. 

This name has follow ed these dissenters from the 
Orthodox Russian Church since |1785. j It was in- 



teinded at iirsl "to distinguish them from those dis- 
senters who especially objected to the use and wor- 
ship o f icons, or im ages, and who became known as 
iconobors. 

A Doukhobor (Spirit- Wrestler) w as looked upon 
as one who wrestled against the Holy Spirit, 
whereas the^Doukhobors" themselves turned it info" 
another meaning, and said it conveyed equally well 
t he,Jdea of wrestling by aid of the Ho ly Spirit, and 
not with carnal weapons. 

The reader may notice that not much space is 
given to the discussion of the possible origin of this 
interesting people, because nothing is known about 
it with sufficient certainty to justify a positive state- 
ment. Several writers have elaborated various the- 
ories of their origin, but none of these have a relia- 
ble historic basis; and one might as well give the 
credit to the immediate effect of the Holy Spirit 
upon these untutored pe asants, as to suppose that 
this or the other human influence must necessarily 
be found to account for the rapid spread of their pe- 
culiar religious opinions in the latter half of the 
eighteenth century. 



INTRODUCTION". 5 

The same thing has occurred time and again dur- 
ing the history of the Christian Church. The sud- 
den appearance of t he Montanists* of the second 
century and the Pietists of the seventeenth century 
are only similar illustrations. 

But wherever and whenever such a people arise 
they bring with them the refreshing breezes of a 
spiritual atmosphere, and protest with an unmis- 
takable emphasis against the deadening effect of out- 
ward ceremonies. The deepest cry of our own and 
every age has been for spiritual freedom, and He 
who declared Himself to be " the way, and the truth, 
and the life " answered that cry when He said, " God 
is spirit, and they that worship Him must worship 



* " Th e Moptanists assert ed the priestly dignity of all Chris- 
tians, and consequently that the gifts of the Spirit are not 
confined to one order in the church, or even to one sex; and 
they would not allow that the gift of prophecy had been 
superseded by learning and an enlightened intellect. 

"In opposition to the notion that the bishops were the sole 
successors of the Apostles they denied that any who have not 
received the spirit of prophecy from the Holy Ghost himself 
can be the successors of the Apostles or heirs to their spirit- 
ual power; and they repudiated the false idea that holiness 
of life is to be looked for in the clergy in another manner or 
in a higher degree than in the laity. 

"They made a vigorous stand also against the spirit ot 
accommodation to the world which was creeping over the 
Church, and notwithstanding the laws against private assem- 
blies, in their meetings for fasting and prayer they disre- 
garded such prudential measures as might avert the suspicion 
of the authorities. They even went so far as to condemn all 
usages of civil and social lifie which could in any way be traced 
to a heathen origin." — "Early Church History," Backhouse 
and Tyler, pages 97, 98. 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

Him in spirit and with true spiritual insight/^* as 
also, " If the truth shall make you free, then are you 
free indeed." 

The Doukhobors are a peculiar people in many re- 
spects, possesse d of bighiJhrisTian ideals., but need- 
ing a certain education to correlate lllliiyyideals with 
those of their present surroundings. This educa- 
tion must proceed, however, on lines in harmony 
with their religious ideals, as will be discussed in the 
chapter on " The Problem of their Education and 
Training.'' 

The Doukhobors have suffered so much for their 
faith during the past century and a half that they 
seem to have accepted persecution as the natural and 
historic condition of their lives, which they were des- 
tined always and everywhere to experience. They 
have even considered their sect to be an elect gen- 
eration descended from the three lads who were cast 
into the burning furnace of ]N^ebuchadnezzar, and 
surely they have survived the fires of State and 
Church vengeance remarkably well, whatever may 
have been their faults. 

A century ago many of them were settled in a 
provinces of the Crimea, separated from the rest of 
Russia by desert steppes. ±5ut this settlement was 
ruthlessly broken up abo ut 1842, and t hey were for- 
cibly transported to the Caucasus^ and eventually 
scattered among Georgians, Armenians, Circassians, 

* Twentieth Century New Testament. 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

Tartars, etc., without, however, destroying their in- 
ternal organization, — an individual theocratic com- 
munity, living its own life and paying tribute only 
to the Czar. Thus surrounded, they formed them- 
selves into a kingdom of peasants, while the weak- 
nesses, corruptions and negligence of the Caucasian 
administration only strengthened the Doukhobors in 
their own opinions. 

The loftiness of their moral opinions, the founda- 
tion of which is the negation of violence, their power 
to endure, their sober and laborious life, proved to 
them a veritable " shield of faith " and gave them 
the esteem of others. 

At the close of the eighties two parties unhappily 
divided the ranks of their Brotherhood, — one willing 
to compromise with the government about military 
service, while the other grew still more severe in its 
regulations. The second was much in the majority 
(eight thousand out of a total of twelve thousand), 
and this larger party aifcpted th yff^ tipw prinmplAR^ 
having, it is true, connection with their ancient doc- 
trine, but which until then had not been completely 
formulated. These three principles are : Intern ation- 
alism, communism and vegetarianism. 

''WMrtfcmMM)i«liiiii'<ii'"»>«rii ' «iiMi l iiiiiiii H i I iiiii ^jmi. i - - i n i i S l in i i ii . i i i ■ «.il.___j.— IL____-— 

lne"new movement had been conducted largely by 
Peter Verigin, th eir youthful leader, and some other 
men who enjoyed the unlimited confidence of their 
party. I n 1886 t he Russian Government snatched 
these chiefs from the midst of their brethren and de- 
ported them to a place of exile within the Arctic 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

circle. But the seed which they had sown could not 
be so easily removed, and the movement continued 
to go forward. In the course of ten years the Rus- 
sian Government made a yet more determined effort 
to get rid of these persisten t dissenters . But to de- 
stroy thousands of such stalwart men and women was 
not easier than to hide " a city set upon the moun- 
tain top." However, their condition was pitiable in 
the extreme when Qount Tolstoi and the Sog e f^y o^ 
Fjiends in England canp to their relief by raiding 
funds for their emigration to Canada, the story oi 
whicli IS told more at length, in tke second part of this 
volume. 

The chapter on " Relations with the Civil Authori- 
ties " will probably reveal some dijficulties with 
which the Dominion government has had to deal 
that were not generally known even to those who 
have been interested in the Doukhobors. That these 
difficulties have shown the Brotherhood in an un- 
favorable light may be frankly admitted, yet it was 
thought wiser bravely to face those truths which 
could not, in fairness to historical facts, be ignored. 

The shortcomings revealed by the regrettable 
position which a portion of the Doukhobors have 
taken are manifestly mental rather than moral, and 
this knowledge should be an additional incentive to 
their friends to hasten the work for their education. 
It was very apparent to the writer that these long- 
persecuted peasants were going through a critical 
period of 40cial and civil adjustment, and that their 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

attitude toward the civil authorities, however illogi- 
cal at present, gave evidence of a strength of pur- 
pose which promised good citizenship when once they 
became enlightened in regard to their privileges 
under that government. 

It has been my desire to point out what th^e^ar-_ 
lyrs for a principle have stood for through a cen-^ 
tury of persecution, and what I am sure they still 
wish to stand for, however much their ignorance and 
femjltinsTA^mny have exposed them to misunder- 
standing. Acknowledging that we are all human 
and that the beam of self-complacency might well be 
removed from our own eye before we aspire to 
take the mote of ignorance from that of our brother, 
I would frankly confess to what these amtutored men 
and women have taught me: ^ ^Sk 






First, that no outward disadvantage can preven 
the truest affection from revealing the universal 
Fatherhood of God, and from manifesting the mean- 
ing of that great commandment, " That ye love one 
another, even as I have loved you '' ; 

Second, that the essential things of life are very 
few and simple, and that just so far as we seek to 
minister to these fundamental necessities we secure 
both our own and our brother's happiness; 

Last, bu t not least, tha t divine truth is fre quently 
so associated with human error, even in the most de- 
vout minds, that we shall always need to separate 



y^" 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

* 

and to cherish the spiritual purpose and ideal, apart 
from its expression, which is so often overlaid with 
useless forms and traditions. 



4^ 



KNOWLEDGMENTS. 



P. Birukov, a Russian sympathizer, has studied 
the Doukhobors carefully, and added the latest valu- 
able contribution to their history, " Tolstoi et les 
Doukhobors,'' translated by J. W. Bienstock into the 
French). I would express my obligation to him for 
much that is interesting and helpful in our common 
effort to educate this worthy, though peculiar, peo- 
ple, and to my friend Jane W, ^^^tl'^tti '^^^ ^^^S 
me access through the French to his compilation of 
facts and suggestions. 

In like manner I am indebted to V. Tchertkov 
for his kindness in forwarding T. Abramov's transla- 
tion of " Orest ]N"ovitsky's History of the Doukho- 
bors," — the most reliable work on the subject for 
over sixty years, — originally published in the Rus- 
sian about 1832; as also for the use I have made of 
his " Christian Martyrdom in Russia " (1897). This 
book was written at the time of their most severe 
persecutions, and probably did much to arouse the 
interest of the English-speaking public to assist in 
the escape of the Doukhobors from their persecu- 
tors in the Caucasus. 

To Aylmer Maude I would likewise express my ob- 
ligation for the use of his chapter on " The Douk- 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

hobors " in " Tolstoi and His Problems," and to Jo- 
seph Barcroft for his admirable sketch of the Douk- 
hobors in The Friends^ Quarterly Examiner, Fourth 
month, 1900, as also to John Ashworth, of Manches- 
ter, England. My friend William Bellows kindly 
gave me the use of some of his photographs, taken 
when with the Doukhobors about the time they were 
first settling in America; and his late beloved father 
contributed much information which had been gath- 
ered from the State archives in St. Petersburg, and 
in many ways assisted me. It was his self-sacrificing 
and sympathetic efforts which first introduced me to 
the needs of the Doukhobors. The manuscripts and 
other collections of my father have also been help- 
fully placed at my disposal. 

When this labor of love was begun, more than two 
years ago, without any literature or written records 
of the Doukhobors to guide me, it truly seemed like 
making " bricks without straw," but as these bricks 
have been twice " sun-burnt " by the rays of love and 
persistent effort, they are offered for what purpose 
they may serve. 

It was my hope to meet or communicate with their 
leader, Peter Verigin^ as I could not read his pub- 
lished letters, some two hundred and seventy-five in 
number, in the Russian. Thus I wrote to him in 
1900, he being then in Siberian exile; but such is the 
censorship of the mail in that land that his reply had 
to come from Canada. I had hoped to hear directly 
from him since his arrival in America, and the publi- 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

cation of this volume has been delayed a few weeks 
in the hope that I might be able to share his opin- 
ions with my readers. His mother writes, af- 
ter receiving information about his arrival in Eng- 
land, en route to America : " From such a joy I for- 
got about all my suffering and old age. I thank God 
for His mercy, and as after a long and stormy night, 
which burdened my soul for over fifteen years, now 
I am waiting for the bright and joyful sunrise, which 
will give warmth to my soul and heart-delight; the 
break of day has shown itself, and the light is not far. 
I am waiting with impatience for that day in which 
I shall see my son. Even now it is in my mind, as 
though I were realizing my meeting with him." 

The historical chapters on the Kussian nation were 
added to supply a background to the picture of the 
4isa^ting peasantry of that country — of which the 
Doukhobors are a small though important part. 

The reader willv have a better understanding 
of the recent fanatical outbreaks by taking this 
glimpse at the past. For instance, the pr esent Qom-^ 
TT^i p^J life o f the Doukhobors is but an unconscious 
JiaheritaBee fro m the m ediseval cit y g uildi and the 
f olkmote of later '^te.* T'he CoimMl of Florence 
once issued a manifesto expressing exactly the same 
spirit as that which the Doukhobors in Canada ex- 
pressed to me repeatedly, viz. : " ]^o work shall be 
done in the Commune but what is conceived in re- 
sponse to the grand heart of the Commune, made up 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

of the hearts of all the citizens- 
jnon mind.^' 

Such stan3ard works as Wallace's " E-ussia " and 
Edmund Coble's " Kussia and the Russians/' with 
Kovalevsky's " Eussian Political Institutions," have 
been consulted, as also " Russia in the Nineteenth 
Century," " Alexander I." and " Alexander III." 

The influence of the Society of Friends with Al- 
exander I. is told by Jane Benson in her pleasing 
narrative, " Quaker Pioneers in Russia," Headley 
Brothers, London. 

All the profits from the sale of this volume will 
go toward supporting a school among the Doukho- 
bors in Canada. If the reader can reap any part 
of the benefit which has come to me in the writing 
of these pages, it will be some compensation for the 
difficulties that have unavoidably delayed their pub- 
lication. 

J. E. 

Media, Pennsylvania, 

Second month, 1903, 



trtit ]9ou{ti|oiiorg in Canalya« 




(1) Joseph Elkinton. (2) Eliza H. Varney. 

(3) J. Obed Smith, Commissioner of Immigration. 



CHAPTEK I. 

PEESONAL EXPEKIENCES OF THE AUTHOR WHILE 
VISITING THEIR COMMUIHTIES. 

The untiring devotion of my father, Joseph S. 
Elkinton, to these Russian peasants, has stimulated 
my interest in them since their arrival in America. 
During the summer of lUO^ i vi sited several of their 
visages in the Prince Albert and Yorkton colonies, 
and came to know the people and their surroundings 
quite intimately. One can scarcely imagine a more 
novel and interesting experience, or one more likely 
to expand the sympathies, than this trip af- 
forded. The warm, personal interest in these peo- 
ple which has been awakened in me by actual con- 
tact with them I would be glad to communicate to 
others, and for this reason I make my narrative a 
closely personal one, hoping that my readers may 
feel, in some degree, as if they had traveled with me 
to the homes of these Doukhobors, had shared with 
me their truly ^iental hospitality, and had felt, as 
I did, their truly Ct^ jfiti^'^^ Hndnrrinj ^^. heart. 

Much has been published of late that greatly mis- 
represents the majority of their communities. Sev- 
eral hundred of the yorkt on colonists, who number 
5^QQin all, have been 3etucled by a religious fanatic, 
— ^not originally of their communion, — ^who has posed 
as a prophet, and has taught that the use of animals 



18 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 



as^'^ifi asts of burden is unscriptural, and that Jesus 
would soon come again m pei-^oh.""* 

As ther e we re only 285 cows, 120 horses and 95 
sieep liberatedby^the^l^uEhbbors, and so] 



ernjpien t agents to prevent irresponsible persons from 
capturing IhemJ it is evident that no considerable 
part of the forty-seven vill ages near Yorj^ton were 
involved in this craze. Ti^^c]b^ village has a hundred 
or^pior e cattle; and the Doukhobors bought Lack all 
these irESate3^animSTs at the sale. 

The pilgrimage was a more serious affair, and was 

-— I— mi— —ifiiii II I III! I , ■_ II II _ „ jiiLiiiiM_ 

happily brought to an end by the government offi- 
cials before there were many fatalities from expos- 
ure. Several hundred men, women and children 
marc hed thirty or forty miles to York ton " in search 
Q£J"esus.[' The women and children were detamea 
by tlie authorities at that place, being housed and 
fed by the English-speaking residents, while the men 
went on to Minnedosa, some 150 miles toward Win- 
nipeg. Here they were put upon a special train by 
the Superintendent of Immigration, Frank Pedley, 
and Colonization Agent Charles Spiers, taken back 
to Yorkton, and so returned to their homes. 

The sixteen hundred Saskatchewan Doukhobors 
have taken no part whatever in tirese7ooli^h*Scfs7'and 
the large majority of those about Yorkton very much 
disapproved of them. The newspaper press has, by 
its exaggerated accounts of these matters and mis- 
leading comments thereon, done great injustice to 
the Universal Brotherhood. Probably one of the 



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PEESONAL EXPERIENCES. 19 

most accurate of these reports appeared in The (New 
York) World of Eleventh month 9th, 1902, and is 
given in full as a fair statement of this unusual pil- 
grimage. 

ON THE TRAMP WITH THE DOIJKHOBORS. 



" The strange outbreak o: ^^li^ious mania among 
the Doukhobors of the JSTorthwest Territories of 
Canada has aroused widespread interest, not merely 
in the Dominion, but throughout America. People 
everywhere are talking of these -Spirit-Wrestle rs,^ 
as they call themselves; t^esemen who will not fight, 
will not wo rk nor use ho rses nor cattle, whA Uf y yU'li ? 
v egetarians^ and who follow to their farthest limit 
the logical conclusions of their beliefs. Six hundred 
men and boys have been marching through Manitoba, 
exposed to all the inclemency of the winter season, 
sleeping on the snow-covered prairie, with no other 
roof than the sky, vdth insufiicient clothing, wholly 
dependent for their food on the charity of the resi- 
dents. 

" T hey we re looking for the second coming of the 
Sa viour. Je sus is To rev^ jLiimself \o fftSffl," 
believe ^isto be reincarnated, to meet them on the 
snow-mantled prairie and lead tfiem forth to evan- 
gelize the world. He was to have met them at Mill- 
wood, according to their avowed expectation — a 
pretty little village, perched on the steep banks of the 
mighty Assiniboine — ^but though He came not, their 
faith did not falter. He simply tarried to try them. 



20 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

"Now they are sure He will appear in Winnipeg, tlie 
capital city of Manitoba, which they expected to 
reach by the 15th. 

" TP j^^ Doukhobors jive in communities. 1'hev 
h o Jd pro perty in common^" ; Tracts of land have been 
reserved for them by the Dominion Government. 
Some of these communities are located north of 
_Yorkton, a nd others near Rosthern and Prince Al- 
bert, in the ^Northwest Territories. Smaller colonies 
are to be found in the vicinity of Swan River, in 
Manitoba. Three months ago a religious agitation 
broke out among the Yorkton and Swan River col- 
onies. T ^ey refused to work their horses, or to milk 
their cows, turning them loose on tEe praiTfe.' ±ney~ 
refused to wear anything that nad an animai origin; 
they discarded their leather boots and wore rubbers. 
Tbg y;> wo uld not eat butter, c £&% , axfiTTttf^.d any arti- 
cle ofiooT'conBS^teS'Eowever remotely with an an- 
imal. 

" To the number of 1,700 ( ?) men, women and 
children they marched into !>:'oi'kLAh, faggrft on a pil- 
grimage to evangelize mankind, They were met by 
the Dominion immigration omcials, and the women 
and children, after some little resistance, were com- 
pelled to accept shelter and food. The men, to the 
number of six hundred, marched away to the East, 
leaving comfortable homes, stocked with food for two 
or three years, and wives and children, to wander, 
they knew not where, till they should meet the Lord. 




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PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 21 

" This pilgrimage naturally evoked widespread in- 
terest in all classes of people, and, to gather some in- 
formation regarding the motives, intentions and be- 
liefs of the Doukhobors, I went up to meet them. I 
overtook them at Binscarth, a little village on the 
northwest branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway, 
about two hundred miles from Winnipeg. They 
came straggling into the town in a procession two 
miles long. Picturesque figures they were, mostly 
clad in blue, and with gaudily-colored scarfs. The 
wide, flaring skirts of their coats were kilted behind. 
Though the snow lay three inches deep on the 
ground, fully a s core were barefoot. More than dou- 
ble that number were hatless^ ' ~~ 

" In front strode a majestic figure, black as Boan- 
erges, and with a voice like a bull of Bashan. He was 
barefoot. On his head was a brilliant red handker- 
chief, and his body was clothed in a long, dusty white 
felt mantle, reaching almost to his feet. He strode 
along at the head of the procession. Suddenly his 
face began to work, his eyes to roll and his hands to 
twitch, and in a few moments he began to jump in 
the air, clutching with his hands and shrieking aloud 
in Russian: 

" * I see him ! I see Jesus ! He is coming ! He is 
here now, my brothers ! You will see Him soon ! ' 

" The long cortege stood stone still. Straining 
their eyes to catch the beatific vision, they talked to 
each other a while, during which their leader calmed 
down to a state of almost torpor, from which he, 



22 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

without a moment's warning, aroused himself to an- 
ot her religious fr^^zv. 

" The Binscarth people gave them food — dry oat- 
meal, which thej poured in little heaps on Llailkfe'ts, 
half a dozen pilgrims helping themselves from each 
heap. The meal was preceded by their favorite 
chant from the 8th chapter of Romans, and by the 
repetition in unison of prayer. Then the pilgrims 
sat in parallel lines and ate oatmeal dry from the 
sack. This, with bread, apples and the dried rose- 
buds picked from the prairie rosebushes, formed their 
menu. 

^' After the meal, which lasted about an hour, they 
repaired to the back yards of the residences, and for 
a quarter of an hour the pumps were worked without 
cessation to satisfy their thirst. An hour afterward 
the procession was formed, and the eastward journey 
resumed. 

" I walked with them for the next eleven miles, 
conversing with different members of the pilgrim 
army. Ejiowing no Russian, I had perforce to talk 
only to those_ who could speak English. They do not 
themselves admit that they have any leaders. As we 
talked, a crowd pressed around us, eager to hear the 
discussion. My questions were translated into Rus- 
sian for the benefit of the pilgrims not speaking Eng- 
lish, and before ^assiliKonkin, who acted the part 



of i nterpre ter, replied, the answer was often the sub- 
ject of some minutes' argument and deliberation. 
" I introduced myself as one who desired to know 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 23 

the reason of their wandering at this inclement sea- 
son, in order that I might explain to all who read 
newspapers the motives prompting their pilgrimage. 
Thej all expressed their pleasure at seeing me, rais- 
ing their hats, such of them as use them, with the 
courtesy innate to the Russians. They said they 
were glad to explain their beliefs to any one, much 
more to one ^ who had many mouths ' — indicat- 
ing their appreciation, I supposed, of the power of 
the press. 

" We walked along in silence for a while, until at 
last Konkin said : 

" ' We go to tell the peoples ; is that not good, yes ? 
What for Jesus come first time ? To live good life, 
to teach peoples how to live. We try live like He 
lives — go to the peoples and teach them, and tell 
them He comes.' 

" * But why did you start at the beginning of the 
winter ? Why not wait till next spring ? Then it will 
be warm and sunny. "Now, if you go on and sleep on 
the snow, many of you must die.' 

" ' Jesus Christ, He say people must think of Jesus 
to-day. To-morrow God will see. He make cold 
warm. If not. He make us strong to bear cold. If 
we die, we see Him soon.' 

^^ ' But others of your people, Vassili, do not think 
as you do. They think you very foolish in this mat- 
ter.' 

" ^ Yes, that is so,' replied Konkin. ^ But he see 
the light soon. In old days people think Jesus fool- 



24 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

ish. They laugh at Him, yes; they nailed Him to 
cross, and He die, and for long time men laugh and 
say, " How foolish ! Him fool.'' Same way apostles. 
Peoples call them all fool, and none believe them. 
Some day, may be after we die, people say, '^ Douk- 
hobor right,'' and they believe ns. May be we no 
see Jesus yet; no, but we tell the peoples, and we 
see Him when we die. More soon we dies more soon 
we see Him. 

" ^ _CrQ^ is necess ary, but government — no. We 
wait till Jesus comes, then Jtie taKe the bad people off 
the ground. When He come, then bad man trouble 
no more. 

" * The Lord says, peoples not get rich — Jesus tell 
every one not get rich here, but to get rich in sky. 
Hajijjpor, nobody would steal and be bad. If all 
poor, all goodT 

" * Peoples say, " You must come back and live on 
farms." Q2^_^^J} " Can't work for two boss." If 



live on farm and work for myself, Ill(i llkti lilU liiuiw- 
than God and for God do nothing. If I like God for 
boss, I go out and walk and tell all the peoples.' 

" I had told them that I had a two-year-old daugh- 
ter, and Konkin was greatly interested. 

" * What you teach your little girl ? ' he asked. 
^ What you give her to eat ? ' 

" When I had told him he shook his head disap- 
pointedly. 

" ^ Should no eat meat,' he said. ^ The living|[ 
shoulTnot li ve oil Ihcj Ihlug : ^ — -> 



PEESONAL EXPERIENCES. 25 



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And you don't work your horses, either ? ' said 

" J You like to work you ? ' he asked. ' How you 
like put in plough, wagon, beaten with stick, eh ? 
'Eo] God He^ay be kind to cattle, to all thing s; so we 
no work xrofe^*..^ "^ 



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But, if the cattle are not to be used, why were , 
they made ? ' 

" ^ They made to look at, to make us glad when we 
see — ^like the grass, the flowers.' 

" It was long past dusk. The sun had dipped be- 
hind dusky bars of orange and crimson, and gray, 
mysterious shadows crept across the prairie. Dark- 
ness closed down on the earth. Ahead could be seen 
the twinkling lights of the hamlet of Eoxwarren, a 
score of dwellings and stores scattered around an ele- 
vator and the railway station. The snow began to 
fall in light flakes. The pilgrims halted and made 
their pitifully inadequate preparations for camping. 
With their hands they tore up some long grass to 
serve as beds. From their pouches each took a hand- 
ful of dry oatmeal an d mun ched it. Some scattered 
in the'lIarEn^essloTiuntfortEe dried ^uit of the rose- 
bush. With no shelter, under the open sky,^ they^lay ^ 
down on the snow y prairie, wearied with their twen- 
ty-mile tramp. Before flinging themselves down, 
they sang a psalm and quoted Scripture verses re- 
sponsively, standing meanwhile with bare heads 
while the snow fell quietly over them. 

" Then they gathered about me to say good-by. 
I must have shaken hands with two hundred of them. 



26 



THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 



" ^ You will tell the people what we say ? ' asked 
Konkin. 

" I promised. Vassili looked at me sorrowfully, 
patted me affectionately on the shoulder and gave 
me a word of parting counsel. 

" ^ We all of us wish/ he said, ^ that you may see 
the light. I S^^ish y ou not to smoke, not to work 
f or, money. Dp not make it hell lor oUlI Lht^ic '^^^v 
pointing to my breast— 



nmke it hea ven. W'^ 'iOve 
you much. Wetell Jesus to come for you. Good- 

" As I turned to go several came up and asked 
me to read certain portions of Scripture. I noted 
down by the light of a match the following: Luke 
12, Matthew 25, Romans 8 (their favorite chapter), 
Matthew 10, and Ephesians 6. Then, followed by 
many more ' good-nights ' in Russian, I set out to 
walk to Foxwarren. As I neared the comfortable 
dwelling where I was to spend the night, I thought 
of tho se misguided pilgrim s lying shelterless on the 
prairie, exposed to the rigors ol~ a Manitoba winter. 
They have certainly forsaken all to follow their Lord, 
and, however their actions and beliefs may fail to 
harmonize with prevailing religious thought, none 
oscn ^fipy the sincerity of these pilgrims." 



7\'How inexpressibly pathetic ! Especially when one 
\j^€2iTi recall their honest faces and many kindnesses. 
^5^ One is reminded of the Crusaders and of dancing 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 27 

dervishes in such an account, but it is only an ex- 
hibition of the character of the untutored Russian 
peasant, temporarily excited by religious enthusiasts. 
Dr. J. T. Reid, of Winnipeg, who is thoroughly ac- 
qu ainted with the Uoukno'Eors. and was familiar with 
the facts of this migration, gave his opinion of these 
over-zealous pilgrims in The Montreal Weekly Wit- 
ness of Tenth month 6th, 1902, as follows: 

" We do not censure the Puritans as a class be- 
cause there were many religious fanatics amongst 
them. To censure the Doukhobors just because a 
minority of them are religious enthusiasts is as un- 
just as the Doukhobors themselves are in judging all 
Canadians by the more uncivilized minority of our 
people whom they occasionally see on the frontiers 
of our civilization in the West. To censure them as 
a people on account of tjie^anaticism of th eir minor- 
ity is as illogical as it were to class the whole Ameri- 
can people with those who follow Dowie and Mrs. 
Eddy. 

" In the West there are six classes of men who 



have at all times seemed to glory in the abuse of the 
Doukhobors: 



" 1. The politician of a certain school, wh^se po- 
lit}cal game is ^ to get in,^ ^d who makes political 



capital out of e veiy^pportiiTI'l ty "^ to get the other 
fellow out.^ — - 

" 2. The rancher, who wants the whole earth 
within the bounds o l his 6Wtl miKih. 



/\ 



28 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

*^ 3. The class who cannot appreciate the high 
moral tone of the Doukhobors, and therefore look 
upon them as hypocrites. 

" 4. A fourth class who are so narrowly sectarian 
that they are unable to see any good outside the pale 
of their own particular creed. 

" 5. A fifth class whose grasping propensities in 
the West are being daily put to shame by the more 
Christian brotherly kindness of the Doukhobor, to 
whom Christianity is nothing if it do not include the 
love of neighbor. 

" 6. Some of the most unjust things said against 
them have been said by disappointed would-be mis- 
sionaries, who thought the Doukhobors were spiritu- 
ally benighted and were anxious to enlighten 
them. ... 

"Just as every Anglo-S axon ' craze ^ ru ns its 
course, declines and disappears, so will it be with this 
fanatical exuberance of the Doukhobortsi." 

Indeed, that the craze very rapidly passed its 
height, and began to decline, is shown by the follow- 
ing extract from the Manitoba Free Press, El eventh 
month 21st, 1902: 

" ^r. C. W . Spiers, colonization agent of the 
DolffinietrftrfSiffi^'l'OTrrned Wednesday from 
Yorkton, driving through the Doukhobor settlements 
as far as Fort Felly, where he was met by Agent 
Harley, of the Swan River district. ' The Doukho- 
bors,' said Mr. Speers, ^ have returned to their re- 



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PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 29 

spective villages, and are again occupying their 
former homes. Their houses were in perfect readi- 
ness to receive them. Ample clothing was carefully 
piled up in the corner, and things set in order, pre- 
vious to these people starting on their pilgrimage. 
The villages are well supplied with roots and vege- 
tables, and these have been protected by the depart- 1 
ment from frost during the absence of the people. 
In fact, I had arranged some time ago for everything 
of a perishable nature to be protected. The villages 
are also well supplied with grain, consisting of wheat, 
oats and barley, and a quantity of flax. There is yet 
some threshing to do, and a number of grist mills 
that have been built by this community are in opera- 
tion. 

" ^ These people will require very little to support 
them for six months, and they are at present consum- 
ing their own products. There is a greater spirit of 
contentment than I expected to find, and a great 
majority of the returned pilgrims will again assume 
the duties of life along right lines. 

" ^ I was informed that they purchased nine pairs 
of horses at Pelly on their return journey, which 
would go to prove that they are moving in the right 
direction. They met rather a cool reception from 
their brethren who remained and were not affected 
by the mania. This is having a good effect, because 
it must be remembered that only about twenty per 
cent, of these people were affected. I have been 
having officials take an inventory of all ascertainable 



30 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

property, and find the villages in a most satisfactory 
condition as far as supplies are concerned. The pil- 
grims feel that their missionary work was not a suc- 
cess, and I think I can safely say that eighty per 
cent, of the younger men are impressed with the 
necessity of commencing to work. I met a few who 
still want to preach, and there are a few leaders who 
will possibly keep up an agitation for a time, but it 
would be a difiicult undertaking for any set of men 
to conduct such a movement again. I consider the 
situation highly satisfactory, and that the great 
majority of these people will be saved to the labor 
market of Canada, and make useful settlers. 

" ^ The influence of the Doukhobors who re- 
mained at home is constantly working in the right 
direction. There has been considerable outside in- 
fluence brought to bear upr>n these people, and some 
are remaining among them to advise them. As to 
how successful these influences may be, I cannot say. 
I am led to believe that these people should be let 
alone for a time, as they have had sufficient excite- 
ment. I have observed that ii> Saskatchewan, where 
we have sixteen hundred of these people7 tJiey^are 
cogj^p«i «tt°^:^« d>^;ettl^^^ are in a state of pefTect con- 
tentment, and have had no one among them giving 
any special advice.' " 

T his excitement h as brought the whole Erother- 
hopd into discredit i n the view of those who are not 
personally acquainted with their many sterling qual- 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 





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COPYRIGHT, ]!»(':'., I!V lOSKI'II KLKINTON. 

Group of Immigrants in Yard of Immigration Hall. 



PERSOIN^AL EXPERIENCES. 



31 



ities, but the Canadian Goyernmen t has s hown its 
liberal polic y^^^^ the humane action of it's officials 
throughout these disturbing outbreaks has been most 
commendable.* 

Indeed, it was one of the privileges of my late visit 
to the j^orthwest Territories to converse with these 
officers, who have had so many perplexing problems 
to solve in connection with the colonization work of 
the Dominion. This has embraced many national- 
ities within a few years. 

All these immigrants come to Winnipeg , as the 
distributing center for Western Canada, to ascertain 
their ultimate location. Thus the Immigration Hall 
in that city was a place of peculiar interest to me, and 
a whole week was spent in studying the character of 
those who gathered in and about it. 

The group near the front door are Swedes who had 
just arrived from their native land to try their for- 
tunes in America. It was in this building that eight 




* The Commissioner of Immigiation, J. Obed. Smith, stated 
the position of the present administration since these disturb- 
ing actions on the part of the Doukhobors have claimed so 
much public attention, in "The Manitoba Morning Free 
Press" of Ninth month 23d, 1902, as follows: "The Doukho- 
bors have been dealt with from the standpoint that they would 
and do form a most valuable acquisition to Canada, and are 
much-needed settlers of our vacant lands. To those who are 
disposed to criticise the presence of the Doukhobors I would 
say that the sociological condition of these people (except 
the few who have imbibed strange notions) before coming 
to Canada, and now, must be taken into consideration, and 
results will prove from that standpoint alone the real value 
to the country of the Community of Christian Brotherhood, 
as the Doukhobors delight to call themselves/' 



32 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

hundred Doukhobors were temporarily housed and 
fed three years ago, and the testimony of their care- 
takers was very pleasing, as both the janitor and the 
matron told me they had never before had such a 
clean and orderly lot of people to provide for. The 
group in the yard is made up of four Galician women, 
two Germans from Russia (with bread under their 
arms), two Doukhobor men (with broad-brimmed 
hats), and a few Canadians. It was in this yard that 
I met forty or more Doukhobors who were seeking 
work in Winnipeg. An honest-faced youth of twenty 
at once attracted me, and it was pleasant to talk to 
him in English, and to learn that he bore the name 
of his uncl e, Peter Yerigin. 

These Doukhobors assembled in the Immigration 
Hall on the first day of the week to recite their 
hymns and go thro ugh the Sunrise Se rvice. This is 
always accompanied by the greaTest seriousness of 
manner, and one can but be impressed with their sin- 
cerity and love one for another. A week later I wit- 
nessed this ceremony in their Saskatchewan settle- 
ment and photographed the scene in front of a gran- 
ary. The men were mostly absent, working on the 
railroad, and this accounts for the greater number of 
women present at the " service.'^ The boy is bow- 
ing to all the women in this group. Each man bows 
three times, kisses each of the other men once, and 
then bows once to all the women, to which they re- 
spond collectively by a bow. The women also bow 
and kiss each other as the men do. Finally, all the 




COPYIUGHT, 1903, BV JOSEPH ELKIXTOX, 

" Sunrise Service." 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 33 

men and all the women bow at the same time, bring- 
ing their foreheads to the ground in true oriental 
fashion. All this is accompanied by a united chant- 
ing of their sacred hymns, and is preceded by the reci- 
tation of portions of the scriptures, or of some prayer 
in ritualistic form. 

This service began at four a.m. and continued 
until six o'clock. The early hour was originally 
chosen so as to escape persecution by their enemies 
in Russia, and they quite agreed with me in thinking 
that the meeting might now be held a little later in 
the day, as that necessity no longer exists. They al- 
ways gave opportunity for remarks by the visitors, 
and listened most respectfully to what was said to 
them. Their patriarch, Ivan Mahortov, was present 
at the third sunrise service I witnessed, in which 
twelve men and thirty-six women took part, and he 
turned round at the conclusion and explained their 
belief with great dignity and clearness. My inter- 
preter said he recited some Greek Church hymns 
dating back to 400 A.D., and even included the Vir- 
gin Mary in the summing up of their creed. Such 
is the force of early associations ! 

After the " service " in the Immigration Hall, we 
had a Molo kan (a R ussian sect in many respects simi- 
lar to the Doukhobors), who entered heartily into 
sympathy with the occasion, to interpret for my 
father and myself; and we found that theso Douk- 
hobors had some wrong ideas about the Canadian 
Government, which we endeavored to correct. A 



34 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

bright little girl interpreted for the few Doukhobor 
women present. 

From Winnipeg we wmdLJUl- to Eosthem, the 
nearest railway station to th ^^skatehe wan colony. 
This journey of five hundred and seventy-liv^ miles 
was comfortably accomplished in twenty-four hours. 
To travel whole days with few human habitations in 
sight, and scarcely a fence or a tree, might have a 
depressing effect if it were not for the beautiful 
prairie flowers and occasional antelopes that can be 
seen from the train window. Yet there is endless en- 
tertainment in traveling on th e Canadian Pacific 
Bailway if o ne studies and sympathizes with the vari- 
ous classes of travelers. There are almost always 
four or ^\e colonists' coaches on a train, in addition 
to the tourists' and Pullman cars. 

At least half a dozen nationalities were repre- 
sented on our train, and some of" these representa- 
tives were going to their new homes on the prairie. 
On one journey of three hundred miles we had as 
fellow travelers a party of Welsh people who had 
just arrived from Patagonia, where they had lived 
twelve years. The children spoke Spanish, and had 
forgotten what English they had once known, which 
the parents regretted. The name of John Evans was 
evidence of their Welsh origin. 

Upon our arrival at Posthern we were met by 

t ^chael She rbinin, and Nurse Boyle. The former is 

jEL Russian nobleman, wl iTTias cast in his lot among 

tne Doukhobors, and is now teaching their children, 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 35 

while IN'urse Bojle is ministering to their physical 
needs. Both of these useful workers were sent out 
under the auspices of the English Doukhobor Com- 
mittee of London Yearly Meeting of Friends. 

'Next morning we started on Doukhobor wagons 
for the village of Petrofka, on the Saskatchewan 
River, twenty-five miles distant. On the way our 
Doukhobor driver gave us a soul-stirring narrative, 
told in Russian, of his experiences in the Caucasus. 
His sons had been imprisoned and so cruelly treated 
that one of them died in consequence. With tears 
running down his cheeks the father told us how he 
had nursed this young man, and how he had followed 
another son to his Siberian place of exile. 

While we were still listening to the driver's story, 
a Mennonite overtook us. Seeing the over-loaded 
condition of our vehicle he very kindly invited 
Michael Sherbinin and myself to share his comfort- 
able spring wagon, which we accepted. These Men- 
nonites are particularly good neighbors to the Douk- 
hobors. Our new friend told us that the Doukhobors 
had come to his house one evening three years be- 
fore, as they were seeking their new home. There 
were several hundred in the company, and most of 
them were walking. They asked that a few of their 
women might be sheltered for the night. At first it 
seemed beyond his power to take any of them into 
his house, as it was small, but something in his heart 
bid him to do what he could; and he said it was al- 
ways a great comfort to him that he had yielded to 



36 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

the impression, especially as lie afterwards learned 
something of their experiences. He could not un- 
derstand their language at the time he took them 
into his house, nor did he then know what brought 
them in such numbers to his door. We rode with our 
kind Mennonite friend to his home on the east side 
of the Saskatchewan River, and shared the evening 
meal with him before we rejoined our comrades. 

To reach Petrofka we had to be ferried over the 
Saskatchewan. The approach to the ferry was quite 
perilous at this time, as the river was twenty feet 
higher than usual, and had overflowed its banks. 
The descent was very steep for several hundred feet, 
and, right at the river's brink, it became almost a 
sheer precipice. The following account from the 
pen of a traveler who had made the crossing the pre- 
ceding winter will give a vivid idea of the difficulties 
to be overcome: 

" Of trail there was scarce a semblance. For three 
hundred feet our path lay down a slope as steep and 
as smooth as a toboggan slide. At its foot were a few 
willow scrub, and then came a clear drop of fifty or 
sixty feet. If the team became unmanageable, and 
could not be stopped at the foot of the slide, the pros- 
pect of the drop beyond was not reassuring. . . . 
The interpreter said he would walk down, so as to 
lighten the load and pilot the way. He started slowly 
and cautiously, but soon the slope and his weight in- 
creased his speed. His feet twinkled faster and 



PEKSONAL EXPERIENCES. 37 

faster through the powdery snow that rose up and 
enveloped him waist high like a halo, above which 
his rotund body and gesticulating arms could be seen 
as he rushed to what seemed almost certain destruc- 
tion. But Providence, in the shape of the afore- 
mentioned willow bushes, interposed, and he crashed 
into their interposing boughs, and fell, a portly, 
breathless heap of huddled humanity, among their 
protecting branches. !N^ext it was my turn. I grasped 
the lines short, braced myself against the foot rail, 
and chirruped to the team. But neither of them ex- 
hibited the slightest inclination to proceed. The sor- 
rel was particularly rebellious, and plunged and 
reared on the edge of the steep in a most nerve-rack- 
ing fashion. Finally, with delicate little steps, and 
snorts of fear, they were persuaded to essay the 
descent. Until a little more than half way down, all 
went well. Then one of them slipped, and in a 
second, cutter and team were slithering down, the 
former on their haunches. Down below I could see 
my companion scramble with frantic haste out of our 
line of descent. His plump figure could be seen 
through the blinding snowmist raised by the horses, 
crashing through the underbrush with an agility out 
of all proportion to his weight. At the foot of the 
hill I partly succeeded in pulling the team to the left, 
thus avoiding the sheer drop ahead, and giving the 
horses an opportunity of catching their feet. The 
thin, limber willow twigs sang like whips as, bowing 
my head and straining on the lines, we dashed into 



38 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

the brush. There was a moment's wild rash, thqn a 
plunge and a bump, and the cutter was still — jammed 
against a tree stump whose top was covered with 
snow. The horses shook themselves, gave a snort or 
two, and then the brown proceeded nonchalantly to 
help himself to some outcropping tufts of slough 
grass. Neither of the team had a scratch, and no in- 
jury was apparent to the cutter. My companion 
^ lost his English ' as he described the slide, and went 
off into German and Polish and Russian and Magyar 
in recounting its incidents.'' 

The milder season of our own crossing reduced 
the peril of descending the banks, but increased 
those of the actual passage of the stream. The 
Doukhobor who managed the raft which was at- 
tached to a steel cable stretched across the river, felt 
very anxious about our passage, as there was a strong 
wind blowing us against the current. Once landed, 
we had a still more alarming experience, plunging 
through such mud as half buried our horses, and al- 
lowed the water to come into the wagon bed. The 
^' snap " of our wagon shows it in such a hole or 
ditch, with the horses in water up to their breasts, 
and a woman nearly thrown out of the wagon. It 
was a very narrow escape, both for herself and child, 
for she was thrown violently over the side as the 
wagon dropped into this hole. 

The mud was axle-deep in the roadway up which 
we struggled to the solid bank. When this was 




PHOTOGRAPHED BX JOSEPH ELKINTON. 

Crossing the Saskatchewan River — Petrofka Ferry. 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 

Prairie Trail and Slough, west bank of the Saskatchewan. 




rjIOTodli VrilKD I'V .lUbEl'H JiLKl.\'J(>N. 

Women waiting to extend a welcome to arriving guests. 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH ELKINTON 



A typical house, with sod roof. 



PERSOI^^AL EXPERIENCES. 39 

ascended we were greeted by some thirty Doukho- 
bor girls, chanting their plaintive Russian hymns of 
welcome, while the men and matrons of the village 
stood on the brow of the bank. Thus surrounded by 
a hundred of these swarthy sons and daughters of 
the soil, and overlooking the tumultuous stream we 
had just crossed, one could but think of Miriam 
when she sang her song of deliverance on the banks 
of the Red Sea. 

It was a sight not soon to be forgotten, as these 
very picturesquely-attired peasants stood on the top 
of that bank, with the sun setting at their backs, and 
the prairie stretching around us on either side of the 
river for thirty to forty miles in all the glory of its 
early summer verdure. 

After photographing this group, before the even- 
ing shades had fallen — (one could see to read until 
10 p.m.) — ^we proceeded to the hospitable home of 
Michael Sherbinin, upon the edge of the village, 
which we made our home while visiting the villages 
of this settlement of eleven communities. 

. L^ v 

When I called at one of the Doukhobor houses in '^ w^ 
Pgtrofka^ the father, lifting his little boy in 
his arms, told me how the child had clung 
to him when he was forcibly taken from his family 
by the Caucasian authorities, and how, after three 
years' imprisonment, the lad did not know him. His 
argument with the military officer was written out 
at my request, and is substantially as follows: 




40 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

" ' The Lord Jesiis commanded us not to fight, but 
to be kind and meek; — ^to love equally all who live 
on the earth, as Christ the Saviour of our souls loved 
us all, and gave his body to be crucified for us sin- 
ners, and has manifested his love before all nations. 
He said, " Resist not him that is evil/' ' 

" ^ But why do you not want to serve the Imperial 
Power ? We are going to fiercely persecute you and 
severely punish you in order to subdue you under 
the power of the Russian Emperor, and we will leave 
your wives and children fatherless.' 

" ^ Dear Mr. Procureur, our Lord Jesus Christ 
said, " The time will come when they will persecute 
you for my name's sake; but be ye not afraid; for to 
the widows I will be a husband, and to the orphans I 
will be a father, and my eye beholdeth you all." ' 

" The procureur shouted to the Russian soldiers, 
* Take him to prison ! ' Two of the soldiers ran up 
to me and put iron chains on my hands, and drove 
me rudely to the prison castle. My mother, father, 
wife and children followed me, and besought the sol- 
diers to allow them to come and bid me farewell. 
The soldiers replied : ^ Do not come near here, or we 
will run our bayonets through you.' The baby boy 
cried and stretched out his hands to me. The sol- 
diers shouted at the little boy, ^ Get away, far 
away ! ' and one of them ran with his gun after the 
boy and my wife. They got frightened and ran, and 
one of my boys fell down from fright. Then the sol- 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 41 

dier ran up to my wife and hit her with the butt end 
of his gun. I said to my parents and my wife : ^ Fare- 
well; ' and I entered the jail in the town of Kars. 
There I was kept three months without being per- 
mitted to see any visitors. On the 15th of ITovem- 
ber they took me to the prison of Tiflis, a journey of 
three hundred and fifty miles. My parents, my , 
wife and children followed me. They applied to the 
soldiers, asking to be allowed to bid me farewell. 
The soldiers answered : ^ The commander of the for- 
tress has ordered us not to admit you near. Go 
away from here, or we'll shoot at you.' 

" Then I said from afar to my relatives, ' Live ye 
in the law of God and His hand will protect you ! ' 
My father Gregory said, ' Our dear child, we are 
very sorry to part with thee, but the Lord is our 
help. Let us go forth to suffer for His name's sake, 
and he will give us to meet where there is no part- 
ing ! ' Then the elder conveying soldier said, ^ That 
will do for talking ! Go on ! ' And then the chil- 
dren stretched out their little arms towards me and 
cried bitterly. 

" After these events I sat in the prison of Tiflis 
three years. After these three years were over the 
procureur gave leave to my parents to come and visit 
me. On the 25th of May, 1898, my parents arrived 
to see me. They came to the yard of the prison, and 
I was admitted to meet them. I greeted them, and 
called to my little son, ^NTicolas, who was then eight 



42 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

years old; but the boy did not recognize me. He 
said, * Let me go ; I don't know thee at all ! ' With 
these words he escaped from my arms and ran to his 
mother. I wept bitterly and said : ' My God, my 
God, my children have forgotten me ! ' " 

The view shows a Donkhobor wagon like that in 
which we had started to cross the prairie from Ros- 
thern, standing at Michael Sherbinin's house, with 
^N^urse Boyle wearing a white cap. This particular 
load of Doukhobor women and babies had come 
twenty miles for the purpose of having the children 
vaccinated. Michael Sherbinin took them all into 
his house and gave them a hearty meal. The school 
house, which Friends of Philadelphia are building, 
will occupy a site similar to this upon which Michael 
Sherbinin's house stands. The Mennonite Reserve 
is upon the other side of the river. 

In traveling across the prairie to the surrounding 
villages we used the Bain Wagon, as shown in the 
picture. (See page 43.) The front seat is occupied by 
Yassili Vereschagin and his wife, who were helpful 
to us in many ways. They were about forty years of 
age, and were among the most progressive in adopting 
American ways of living. After Michael Sherbinin 
and his wife, who occupy the middle seat of the wagon, 
had interpreted my desires to them, Yassili would en- 
treat his brethren to send their children to school. 
My mission was primarily an educational one, believ- 
ing, as I do, that the education of their children is the 




COPYBIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 

Doukhobor team, with the Mennonite Reserve 
in the distance. 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 

The Sherbinin Homestead. 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH ELKIXTOX. 

Ready for the start, to visit the Saskatchewan villages. 



PERSONAL EXPEKIENCES. 43^ 

effective way in which to reach their parents. Mght 
after night we held conferences, and four out of five 
of their communities desired that a school should be 
started. I cannot forget the earnest faces of those 
strong men and women, standing three and four 
deep, in their clean, whitewashed homes, often until 
near midnight, eagerly drinking in the suggestions 
that were made regarding their educational needs. 
If those persons who have formed such unfavorable 
opinions of the Doukhobors because of the late out- 
breaks of fanaticism in the Yorkton district could 
visit these villages in the Saskatchewan settlement,, 
their ideas would be greatly modified. 

These Doukhobors have taken up their home- 
steads, and they have done marvels in the past three 
years towards improving their condition. The soil 
is very fertile, and being within the wheat belt, great 
crops of wheat and flax are harvested. 

As we journeyed from village to village, separated 
sometimes by ten or fifteen miles, we saw badgers^ 
coyotes, foxes and wild ducks, to say nothing of the 
innumerable prairie dogs. Upon our arrival at a vil- 
lage the men and women, and frequently the chil- 
dren, would be gathered at a house, selected by them- 
selves, in which we were to be entertained. 

As they were fond of being photographed, after 
the usual salutation of bowing was over, I would 
take snap-shots of the groups thus assembled. The 
women when at work always tuck up their skirts, 
which never trail upon the ground. (See page 39.) 



44 ^ THE DOTJKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

An interesting street scene is at eventide, when 
the cows are coming in from the prairie. The large 
logs on the right in the picture were taken out of the 
Saskatchewan River bj the Doukhobors to be used 
in building their houses. 

As we passed through one village (Troitzkoje) we 
dined with Simeon !Nicolayevitch Popov, a man of 
sixty-two years of age, who had built an entire flour 
mill, including the dressing of the mill-stones from 
rough stones which he found in the neighborhood. 
Three horses were turning these stones, and we 
found from personal experience that the flour was 
fine enough to make good bread, which we enjoyed 
eating. 

The Doukhobors where I visited were vegetarians 
without exception, and they all seemed very robust 
in health. They need fruit, and it is a hardship that 
it cannot be grown in that climate. 

Occasionally we would see evidences of consider- 
able artistic ability. A certain house-yard fence at- 
tracted my attention, and I asked our driver who 
made it. He replied that he was the owner and had 
built it with his own hands. Everything about this 
house gave evidence of taste and skill. He is seen 
in the picture standing near the angle of his fence, 
while near at hand were several trees which he had 
planted. 

The great oven is a charg^ct eristic feature of these 



Russian hou*ses. The oven front stands six fed I higl^ 

■ ■ lIT^ 

and five feet wide. The interior baking space is ap- 



■■1 


■ 


^^^^^s 


|l|te.,:'.. " 


l^H 


k 



rHOTOGRAPHED BY JOSEPH ELKIXTOX. 

Mllase scene at eventide. 



S^ff^**"*" ■ ■ 




COPrRIGHT, lyOo, BY JOSEPH ELKII^TON. 



A model home. 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSErii ELKI-XXOX. 

A babv show. 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 45 

proximately three by four feet. On top of this oven 
several small children can be stowed away for the 
night. 

I stood by this maiden of seventeen years who 
holds the long-handled lifter, as she deftly placed the 
copper pan near the glowing embers, and quickly 
withdrew it with a toothsome pancake. The batter ^ 
cup and saucer, with the buttered cloth, are at the 
left, while the ashes were pushed to the right of the 
vestibule of the oven proper. (See page 47.) 

At another time ^Ye young mothers were grouped 
in front of one of these ovens. The bonnets of these 
babies were quite elaborate, and their eyes very 
bright. 

When we reached the village of Grorelofka, Savili 
Feodorevitch Choodyakov and his brothers, with 
their kind mother, were ready to give us a warm 
welcome, and we cannot omit to mention how all the 
good people of this village entertained us with royal 
hospitality. They also bestowed presents of clothes 
upon me. A widow of seventy years came to me 
with her marriage scarf, saying that she would pres- 
ently die, and as her children were either dead or 
too far away to give them this sacred emblem of her 
marriage, she wished to bestow it upon me, as other- 
wise it would go into her coffin. The scarf is made 
of Russian crash, about two yards long, and has sev- 
eral bands of silk of various colors below a section of 
conventional design. Each woman is presented with 
one of these when she marries. They had shortly 



46 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

before given me a new coat and sacred sash, such as 
is worn during their Sunrise service. The cap 
(fedora) is made of a short, curly lambskin, and came 
from the Caucasus. (See first page of Introduction.) 

The same style is seen on a little boy on the ex- 
treme right of a group of men, women and children. 
In this photograph it may also be observed how two 
layers of prairie sod make the roof. (See page 63.) 

The women wear a very picturesque and comfort- 
able hood, with a rosette of bright color on the front 
of it. The velvet band which encircles the head is 
invariably black; otherwise there is considerable 
variety in the color used, although the shape is al- 
ways the same. In this group none of the chanting 
girls are wearing their white handkerchiefs or shawls 
over their hoods, as I requested them to take these off 
when being photographed. This white shawl is in- 
variably worn by the women in the fields, and when- 
ever they are working, the hood being reserved for 
special occasions. The young man on the right was 
about twenty years of age, and, being lame, was serv- 
ing/as shoemaker to the village. 

The heavy winter sheepskin coat was quite com- 
fortable when riding across the prairie, even in mid- 
summer. The women in this group were sixteen and 
eighteen, and the boy about twelve years of age. 
The doll baby they had dressed especially for me. 

When about to leave this colony I found that one 
or more of the Doukhobor girls could talk English 
quite well, and so we had some conversation about 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKIXTOX. 

Group of chanting girls. 







COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKIXTON. 



Sheepskin coat and Doukhobor doll. 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 4:7 

their coming home with me as domestic helpers. It 
was very interesting to see how the proposition was 
regarded by them. After thinking about it for some 
time the younger of the two thought she was willing 
to come, while the elder hesitated, for fear she 
" would not get back in time to get married.'' I 
asked her how old she was, and she replied that she 
was sixteen. The younger was thirteen. The men 
and women generally marry when about seventeen 
years of age. 

After a week spent most pleasantly, barring the 
mosquitoes, in this colony on the Saskatchewan 
River, we returned to Winnipeg via Regina, in order 
to visit the Yorkton settlement, which consists of 
forty-seven villages, situated from thirty to ninety 
miles distant from that town (see map). The South 
Colony is on the Assiniboine and White Sand Rivers, 
while the North Colony is located near the Swan 
River, north of Fort Pelly, and there are six villages 
on Good Spirit Lake. The ride of two hundred and 
eighty-two miles from Winnipeg to Yorkton occu- 
pied a whole day by train, but it gave us another op- 
portunity to appreciate the great work which the 
Canadian government is accomplishing in colonizing 
these vast stretches of prairie. We saw two trains of 
thirteen cars each, entirely occupied by Galicians. 
One of these trains unloaded before us. It was a 
sight that continually comes back to me as one of the 
most remarkable of this interesting journey. There 
were throngs of little children and larger boys and 




48 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

girls with packages of every conceivable shape upon 
their backs, while their parents were laboring under 
loads that almost eclipsed their picturesque costumes. 

It was four days after our arrival at Yorkton be- 
bre we could get a carriage to take us the fifty miles 
north to Poterpevshe, where " Grandmother " Veri- 
gin lives. The roads were so bad, on account of the 
constant rains for the two preceding months, that 
they were thought to be impassable. These days of 
waiting were improved by gathering together the 
Doukhobor men who had come to Yorkton to trade 
and to find employment on the railroad. One hun- 
dred and fifty Doukhobors had been called for by 
railroad contractors, and runners had been sent out 
to the various villages to bring them to Yorkton. 

The picture shows such a group as we repeatedly 
conversed with, and they represent the class of men 
who went on the late pilgrimage. They could not 
appreciate the good will of the Canadian government 
in its homestead regulations, and they were afraid 
of signing their names to any document, as they had 
always gotten into trouble by doing so in Russia. 
Time and again we endeavored to enlighten them, 
but without the same success we had had with their 
Saskatchewan brethren. ISTotwithstanding this, they 
had traits of character we could admire. 

Frederick Leonhardt and Michael Sherbinin were 
both invaluable interpreters, and the kindness of the 
former toward Michael Sherbinin and myself in shel- 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 



Yorkton Doukliobors. 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKIXTO.V. 



Blacksmith shop. 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY T. V. SIMPSON, V.S. 

Men serving as horses. 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 49 

tering us under his most hospitable roof will always 
be a pleasant memory. 

Robert Buchanan had come from Good Spirit 
Lake to Yorkton to see us. He and his wife have 
been very good friends of the Doukhobors, and can 
testify to their faithfulness as reliable servants. A 
Doukhobor and his wife have had entire charge of 
their home affairs for months at a time. He had in- 
fluenced the Doukhobors near his home to take up 
their homesteads and not to go on the late pilgrim- 
age, or release their horses and cows. 

After this interview we started for Poterpevshe, 
and soon passed the Doukhobor blacksmith shop in 
Yorkton, where lived the largest woman I saw among 
them. Our team was one of the finest, but the driver 
dreaded the journey, as he declared he had not seen 
such trails during the past twelve years. We dined 
on the open prairie, and had it not been for the in- 
numerable mosquitoes our camp-fire lunch of coffee 
and boned turkey would have been very much en- 
joyed. 

The mosquito pest of this country is greatly 
against it. The air was literally full of them during 
the entire trip, and they would settle so close upon 
the coat of our driver as to change the color of it 
from black to yellow, as the wings of this variety of 
mosquito are straw-colored. 

About this time we saw several men and boys 
drawing a loade d wagon, and as they druw near I- 
asked one o± tliem!, ffirdtJgh the interpreter, why they 




60 THE DOUKHOBOES IN CANADA. 

did not use horses. His reply was very candid, and 
in the words of Scripture (Kom. 8: 19, 22): "The 
whole creation waiteth and groaneth even until now 
for the manifestation of (mercy on the part of) the 
sons of God." I remonstrated that the Apostle was 
not writing about horses, but of a spiritual bondage 
which our unregenerate wills inflicted upon " the 
better part " in our own souls. He wished to include 
he animal creation as " sons of God." 

The tenderness of this man's conscience was most 

pparent, and his honest face appealed to one 

ngly, so I knew not which to pity most, his body 

his mind. They pulled that wagon through many 
sloughs that were dangerous for our horses to enter, 
and after a round trip of seventy miles I saw him 
again, and said I was very glad that they had sur- 
vived their toils as horses. He looked earnestly into 
my face, and, with tears running down his cheeks, 
said : " If you would only think as we do God might 
make some use of you in your generation, for I see 
you have some ability." I assured him it would be .| 

some time before I thought as they did about using 
horses, and that their children would not hold such 
ideas. 

About him stood a group of the most sincere and 
kind-hearted people I had ever met, showing every 
evidence of prosperity; and I felt that it was a psy- 
chological problem to eliminate this over-conscien- 
tious mental attitude from such a kind and true 
spirit. So it is with all the fanaticism that has ap- 



PEESONAL EXPERIENCES. 51 

peared among this really worthy people. A people 
who will not fight, or steal, or drink anything intoxi- 
cating, or smoke, or use profane language, or lie, have 
a character which will bring forth the best qualities 
of Christian citizenship. 

If we can but help and stimulate them to educate 
their children, in another generation these ignorant 
peasants will be transformed into intelligent farmers 
and tradesmen. It is greatly to their credit that they 
are very particular as to the teachers they admit 
among them, and no one need undertake that func- 
tion who has not a sympathetic temperament. 

About sunset, after six hours of plunging in and 
out of those dreadful sloughs, we came upon a group 
of twenty-five women who had been picking ginseng* 
root on the prairie. These Doukhobors were seated 
upon the grass, eating their evening meal, and ap- 
parently enjoying it greatly. They rose most cour- 
teously, but I requested them to be seated again 
while I photographed them. 

That night was spent in the home of a German 
family with eight small children, and apparently sev- 
eral million mosquitoes. As it was a post-office, with 
a weekly mail service, we endeavored to divert our 
minds from these uncomfortable guests, by writing 
home, until the small hours of the morning. 

Our experiences the next forenoon almost defy 

* This medicinal root is to be found throughout the North- 
west Territory, and the Doukhobor women and children have 
gathered several thousand dollars' worth each summer. 



52 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

description, for these sloughs were such as Bunyan's 
Pilgrim never saw. Three times our horses came to 
a standstill in the midst of sloughs axle-deep in mud, 
and holding three feet of water above the clay which 
underlies the eighteen inches of rich black soil. The 
situation was novel, to say the least of it. One horse 
lay flat on his side, holding his head above the water, 
while the other sat like a dog upon his haunches. 

The interesting part of the situation was to see 
how admirably the horses understood the difficulties 
of their position and responded to the driver's word. 
Instead of struggling, they rested until the driver 
got out in the mud and water and released the traces, 
when they sprang up and plunged forward on to 
more solid ground. A rope was made fast to the 
front axle, wound around the pole of the carriage, 
and extended some fifty feet beyond it. The horses 
were then attached to this rope, and with some en- 
couragement from the driver they pulled us out. 
Twice after this we were compelled to get out of the 
carriage before it could be moved through the mud 
of the slough. 

Sitting there surrounded by water, annoyed by 
mosquitoes, pretty well covered with mud, and in the 
midst of a thunder-storm, gave us ample opportunity 
to moralize upon the blessings of home. Never were 
mortals more thankful to get under a roof than we 
were that day when we reached a Doukhobor village 
and were taken into one of their comfortable houses, 
where we had our clothes dried. It is this whole- 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 53 

hearted hospitality that impresses all who have vis- 
ited these Doukhobors, and we cannot undervalue 
this trait, however defective they may seem in other 
respects. 

This was the village in which my father had some 
three months before found a welcome, after he had 
traveled in a circle for eight hours at night. He was 
at that time on his fourth visit to these settlements, 
and had left this village to go on to the next about 
five o'clock in the evening. The driver lost the trail, 
and they wandered about in the dark, until the horse 
brought them back to the starting-place, about one 
o'clock in the morning. 

A few hours brought us to the home of " Grand- 
mother " Verigin, near the center of the village of 
Poterpevshe (meaning in Russian, " those who have 
patiently endured "), a veritable haven of rest, on the 
north side of the White Sand River. (See frontis- 
piece.) This old lady of eighty-six is recognized by all 
the Doukhobors as a queen among them. They all 
pay their oriental respects to her by bowing most pro- 
foundly. These salutations were often quite im- 
pressive, and accompanied by much sincere feeling. 

For three years I had desired to visit her, and to 
hear her history from her own lips. She told me, 
through my friend and faithful interpreter, Michael 
Sherbinin, how she had married when about seven- 
teen years of age, in the Crimean Colony of the 
Milky Waters, and had lived there peaceably until 
1842, when, by order of Mcholas I., she was taken 



54 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

to the Caucasus. The details of this journey were 
thrilling. 

She had three little children, all under eight years 
of age, whom she cared for as best she could, while 
their party was driven along by the soldiers. When 
they came to the Caucasian mountains there were no 
good roads, as at present, over the mountain passes; 
and she remembered how the thirty men in their 
company could scarcely keep the wagons from going 
over the precipices. It was also dangerous for their 
horses and cattle to graze, and she would gather the 
grass for them with her own hands. The Circassians 
and other hillsmen would throw stones down on them 
from the heights above their heads, in more than one 
instance resulting fatally. 

They were finally made to settle in the Wet Moun- 
tains, at an altitude of five thousand feet. Even here 
they prospered far beyond what was thought possible 
by their persecutors. 

One night her husband was away from home, and 
her brother-in-law was also absent trading among 
some Tartars, who persuaded him, much against his 
preference, to remain with them over night. They 
then went to his house, and, as she opened the door, 
they killed the wife of the very man they had shel- 
tered. They thought they had done as much to 
" Grandmother," for they struck her four death-deal- 
ing blows upon the head, one of which opened an 
artery, and then kicked her under the bed in a pool 
of her own blood. She rose up, however, and tried to 



PEKSONAL EXPERIENCES. 55 

open the window near her, but the robbers, suppos- 
ing it was the effort of her little boys, broke the 
window-shutters in her face. She added: ^^ Had they 
known I had gotten up, they would have come back 
and killed me.'' 

When the men entered the house she had told her 
boys to keep very quiet on top of the oven, and they 
escaped being injured. They plainly saw the faces of 
the robbers who took ten thousand roubles out of 
a strong box, so that they were able to identify 
them at a later time. " Grandmother " told with 
much feeling how her dear little boys were asked to 
go among thirty criminals and point out those whom 
they thought to be the men who had entered their 
home and nearly killed their mother. They desig- 
nated seven, and afterward " Grandmother '' was 
told to say which they were, if she could. She said 
her eyes were so nearly closed by the swelling re- 
sulting from her wounds that she had to hold her 
eye-lids open to see any of them, and yet she selected 
the same seven that her boys had indicated, without 
knowing their choice. The ten thousand roubles 
were returned to the family. 

" Grandmother " has had seven sons in Siberian 
exile at one time. Her son Peter Verigin has been 
their recognized leader for the last seventeen years. 
He and his brother Gregory are now liberated, and 
on their way to America. 

As indicating the vigor of this old lady's mind the 
reader may be interested in a letter recently received 
from her. 



66 THE DOUKHOBOES IN CANADA. 

" Village Poterpevshe, llth mo. 25tli, 1902. 

" My Dear Friend, Joseph Elkinton: 

" I beg pardon for the delay in answering your 
kindest letter which I received this autumn. Be 
assured that I had the greatest desire to answer you 
immediately, but it is only now that I availed myself 
of the opportunity to express to you the deepest 
gratitude and love for your extreme goodness, mani- 
fested by you towards us from our first meeting. 

" God bless you for all your generosity, and I ask 
His favor to be worthy of it and to give me the pos- 
sibility to see you again in my life. I pray to God 
for your health, and hope He will preserve you for 
the happiness of all our people. 

" I am extremely sorry to confess that a part of 
us vex all our benefactors and friends by their fool- 
ish actions, but I hope that (our) Creator will en- 
lighten their reason and help us to arrange our com- 
mon life in the best way. The Lord had pity on me 
and sent me a great consolation — ^my son Gregory, 
who came recently from Siberia, and the joyful news 
that my other beloved son Peter * is on the way to 
Canada. I am sure you will partake of my hearty 
rejoicing and accept the humble compliment of your 
devoted [friend] truthfully, 

" Baboshka (Grandmother) 

" Anastasia Vassilinovna Yeeigina. 

* See page 68 for account of the arrival of Peter Verigin. 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 57 

" P.S.— This letter has been written by T. Dick- 
ericks, the brother-in-law of V. Tchertkov, who 
came from England to stay the winter with this (our) 
people, and help them in their needs, and he is very 
glad to have the opportunity to express to you, dear 
sir, his thankfulness for all the care and trouble that 
you and your venerable father took during the first 
time of settlement of his old friends, the Doukho- 
bors/' 

" Grandmother's " household, in which I spent 
three happy days, was composed of " Grandmother," 
her daughter Anna Podovinnikov, and three daugh- 
ters-in-law, with three grandchildren. This house 
was very comfortable, and attractively clean. It was 
built of logs, some thirty by fifteen feet, one-storied, 
and plastered inside and out. The inside was white- 
washed so beautifully one always felt sure of abso- 
lute cleanliness, and this is characteristic of their 
houses in general. The beds were made of feathers. 
The chief room was eighteen by twelve feet, with 
the usual oven in the corner, near which I slept most 
comfortably. This room is back of the group on the 
porch. A vestibule six feet square allows the visitor 
either to enter this apartment, or, turning to the 
right through a similar door, to step into " Grand- 
mother's " smaller room. Here she sat in the finely 
upholstered chair seen in the frontispiece, to receive 
her guests in queenly fashion. 

The patriarch, Ivan Mahortov, met me here, hav- 



58 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

ing come thirty-five miles to see me. He is the most 
active man of ninety years I ever met, and I shall 
not easily forget his energetic manner when telling 
us of Stephen Grellet's and William Allen's visit to 
the Doukhobors in 1818. After hearing his descrip- 
tion of the two Friends, I am quite disposed to think 
that it was William Allen rather than Stephen Grel- 
let who prophesied concerning their coming to 
America. 

It was certainly a very remarkable utterance for 
any one to prophesy so clearly, eighty years in ad- 
vance, the future experience of a people, telling of 
their future persecutions, imprisonments, exile to a 
foreign country, prosperity and visits from Friends. 

The Patriarch gave us some of his experiences 
during the twenty-eight years he served in the Rus- 
sian E'avy. From 1840 to 1853 he had no active ser- 
vice. Then the Crimean War opened, and he was sta- 
tioned on the warship Catharine II., then anchored 
off Sevastapol. The high officials of that town, with 
the officers of the Russian Army and I^avy, were 
gathered in the Greek cathedral, hallowing the 
Easter service, when the English threw a cannon ball 
at. the cupola, and shattered it over their headsi — 
without, however, injuring the congregation. The 
Russian ship Northern Star was at once ordered to 
prepare for action by Commander-in-Chief Lazarev. 
A shot from the English man-of-war disabled her 
side-wheel, and it was proceeding to capture her, when 
two Russian frigates came upon the scene and tugged 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 59 

her out of danger. Thus two of the greatest " Chris- 
tian " nations celebrated the resurrection of the 
Prince of Peace in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and fifty-three ! 

When the old Slavonic inscription over the 
cathedral door in St. Petersburg: " My house shall 
be called a house of Praver for all IN'ations," was 
mentioned, this veteran of ninety summers naively 
remarked, " Yes, and my countrymen have many a 
time fulfilled the rest of the text." 

He was in the engagement when the Russian 
fleet sank nine out of ten of the Turkish men-of-war 
at Sinope, in the Black Sea. 

The united fleets of England, France and Tur- 
key then concentrated their attack on Sevastopol, an- 
choring at Eupatoria. As the Russians had no 
mounted artillery, the Russian sailors carried their 
guns and cannon on Rhnr^^, ._ ]V gtvMahortov w ell re- 
members the difl&culty of bearing a cannon thus 
strapped upon his back. Two Russian admirals, 
brothers, by the name of ^Egtomin, planned a success- 
ful stratagem at this time, when they were likely to 
be overpowered. A courier was dispatched to the 
Emperor Mcholas stating there were sixty thousand 
Russian soldiers in reserve to meet the allied forces 
at Sevastopol, when in fact there were only twenty 
thousand. He was sent through the enemy^s lines, 
duly captured and searched, and the Russians were 
allowed to withdraw their troops from Sevastopol 
without capture because of this misrepresentation. 



60 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

Mahortov said: " At least three times during the 
siege of the city, when the batteries on either side 
were decimating the ranks of the other, and these 
were being immediately replaced, he heard repeat- 
edly the appeals from the enemy in these words: 
' Brethren, Russ (Russians) don't hit — fire aside ' ; 
and the Russians responded, * Fire aside, brother/ '' 
^^ After this," the old man told us, with tears in his 
eyes, " there was no more such carnage, and would 
to God that men and angels might never witness such 
hellish work again ! " 

He related another instance of that humanity 
which will ever assert itself while men are men, even 
when their rulers are compelling them to act as de- 
stroyers. The commander of his ship detailed him to 
visit a small detachment of the ship's crew, who had 
been stationed on the land to raise some vegetables 
in the Oushakova ravine. These Russian sailors had 
been captured by the English and their comrade took 
tremendous risks in stealing his way through three 
picket lines at night, especially as it was " in the very 
hottest times of the war." " One of my brethren 
found me secreted in the bush near their station and 
threw his arms around my neck. After enquiring for 
their health, I asked whether they had any food for 
themselves. ' Oh ! yes, the English send us coffee, 
bread and butter in the morning, and the same food 
they have themselves twice a day beside this.' And 
then they tell us, ^ Don't be afraid; we won't harm 




o 
o 



-73 



O 

o 
OS 









PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 61 

you; it is o ixlj Victoria and Mcholas who are gui lty 
in this business/ '' 

^MabA£|5^was secreted during the day, and when 
night came he led his brethren back to the ship with 
remarkable success through the same dangers he had 
braved alone. He said : ^' I always served in arms un- 
protest, having a convictio n that all war 
is,^rongana^i never aimed directly at the enemy." 
When asked how the higher officers regarded thisj 
sort of action, he exclaimed: " Oh! they had no time 
to take notice of that, but were only too glad to hide 
behind my back." Once, however, when master of 
" top-sail " crew, who were somewhat noisy, the Ca] 
tain's mate shouted, " Come down, Mahortov," and 
when he came down from the yard-arm he was or- 
dered to take off his jacket and to receive one hun- 
dred lashes; this was repeated twice on his bare back, 
and thus he rec^ gived three hundred lashes durin g an 
hour for no neglect of duty, of which he was con- 
sciously guilty. 

This dear old man gathered the children of Poter- 
pevshe around him and taught them the hymns which 
form so important a part of their education. As I 
approached this group I thought I had never seen 
just such animation on the part of an instructor as 
|van Mahortov d isplayed as he led, corrected and 
praised his pupils. The well at the rear is in 
" Grandmother's " yard, and serves the whole vil- 
lage. It was about fifty feet deep, and had a ring 
of ice in it fifteen feet below the top. One could but 



62 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

think of " the time that women go out to draw 
water" in the city of l^ahor, as these Doukhobor 
women and maidens came each evening to fill their 
tin pails. Only the camels were lacking, and instead 
of the pitchers or jars balanced on their heads they 
carried the buckets on either end of a pole thrown 
over their shoulders. 

Another group of children in front of a sawmill 
gives some idea of their faces. The logs are all sawn 
into slabs in this fashion. (See page 57.) 

We soon went into conference with about one hun- 
dred delegates from the South Colony, and those of 
Swan Eiver, to talk over their homestead interests. 
It was most interesting to see the delegates bow pro- 
foundly to the old lady. 

As we went out of " Grandmother's " door, the 
patriarch said, in referring to the Doukhobors' hesi- 
tation about taking up their homesteads : " A scared 
hare is afraid of every stump," and it was very ap- 
propriate to the assembled delegates. 

I addressed these delegates from the porch rail, 
where the old patriarch stands by the side of 
" Grandmother " (see page 60) and her noble daugh- 
ter, Anna Podovinnikov, vdth the other members of 
her household on either side of him. After several 
conferences near " Grandmother's " house, during 
which it was difficult to get their signatures for any 
purpose, " Grandmother " said to me, through her 
daughter-in-law, she was sorry the delegates were so 
unresponsive, and she hoped I would overlook any- 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 

Village children and " saw mill. 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKIKTON. 

Saskatchewan Doukhobors. 



PERSOjS^AL expeeiences. 63 

thing that might have seemed discourteous, for she 
and all her household were thankful for my visit, and 
glad to learn what I told them of Canadian law. 

The Commissioner of Immigration and ex-Com- 
missioner William F. McCreary had requested us to 
interpret that law to them and to bring three repre- 
sentative men back to Winnipeg to talk over their 
interests, which we did. 

If the women in these communities could have the 
deciding vote, many things would be better managed, 
and probably all the late fanaticism would not have 
been heard of. 

The man in his shirt sleeves at the extreme right 
in the photograph of " Grandmother's " house is 
Ivan Podovinnikov, who lodged with Michael Sher- 
binin and myself during our stay in this village, and 
was most attentive and helpful. I cannot cease to 
thank him for putting me through a Russian bath — 
the most complete cure for a cold I ever tried. 

The bath-house, some twelve feet square, was in 
" Grandmother's " yard. An ante-chamber, three 
feet wide and the width of the building, had clean 
straw nicely distributed on the floor. Entering the 
larger room one saw a neat pile of stones about two 
and a half feet high in the corner. These had been 
previously heated by a fire applied through the wall 
separating the two apartments, and there was no 
smoke. A slab three feet wide, extending the entire 
width of the building, was supported some five feet 
above the floor, as a shelf, upon which the bather 



64 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

was invited to lie down. Two or three cups of water 
were then thrown upon the hot stones, and the steam 
generated thereby was enough to smother or cleanse 
a dozen men. While immersed in this steam bath he 
received the best switching of his life from a bunch 
of birch leaves, applied so dexterously that the cir- 
culation was quickened to an incredible degree. 

By taking a basin of cold water, and keeping the 
water constantly splashed in one's face, I found it 
possible to endure this operation for ten or fifteen 
minutes, during which time Ivan would repeatedly 
look most tenderly into my face, and anxiously in- 
quire, " Enough ? enough ? more ? little more ? " 
After going out to cool down on the clean straw this 
process was repeated once or twice, and then, with 
alternate dashes of cold and hot water, the patient 
was dismissed, and wrapped up in a warm blanket, 
under which he remained the rest of the night. 

All the Doukhobors bathe in these houses at least 
once a week, and they are very clean in their per- 
sonal habits. I remember speaking to some of them 
because their faces were fairly shining with cleanli- 
ness and glowing with color, saying, " I suppose you 
have been picking strawberries on the prairie all 
day," and they replied, " Oh, no ! we have just been 
in the bath." 

Before leaving this village, so full of interesting 
people, I took some photographs of family groups. 
Three out of four wished to send these " snaps " to 
their loved ones in Siberian exile. 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 



Families of exiles, showing Persian rugs brought by them 
from the Caucasus. 







COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 

Wife and family of a Siberian exile. 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 



A Doukhobor family of typical physique. 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 65 

One of these includes an aged mother of the exiled 
husband and father. The wife stands in the rear and 
to the left of her five daughters, who range in age 
from twenty to ten years of age. One of the three 
wore an American straw hat, which she wished her 
father to see. 

Another group shows the wife, whose husband is 
in exile, with her three married daughters. The Per- 
sian rugs under their feet were brought from the 
Caucasus. 

A third has six children in it, and was solicited 
very earnestly by them for their father. This house 
is a half dug-out. The crop of weeds on the roof was 
very luxuriant. These dug-outs were very damp and 
dark within, somewhat reminding one of a cave. In 
one village I saw a cow walk up one of these 
roofs and look around with apparent satisfaction. 

A fourth family group of a man and his wife with 
two married daughters is typical for size. 

Ivan Mahortov sits in " Grandmother's " surrey 
on the front seat, while the old lady and her daugh- 
ter occupy the rear seat. This carriage was given to 
her by the Doukhobors as a special token of affection, 
and she insisted upon my father using it last spring, 
when the frost was coming out of the ground, with 
the result that it was broken pretty much to pieces. 
But when I found it in the village shed, alongside of 
a Deering reaper and binder, it looked as if it had 
never been used. I put as many girls as I could on 
the two seats, and asked the boys of Poterpevshe to 



66 THE DOUKHOBOBS IN CANADA. 

give them a ride, which they did with great glee, 
bringing the surrey to Grandmother's door. She was 
then willing to get into it to be photographed. 

The last group of five women and four children is 
the household of Barbara Verigin (" Grandmoth- 
er's " daughter-in-law), in the village of Bedesofka. 
She stands with hand upon the post. This was 
the last Doukhobor dwelling we lodged in, and 
the kindness of our hostess, as well as that of ail 
of her family, will be remembered as long as memory 
lasts. She was a true disciple of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and her loving spirit created the atmosphere 
of her household. Three of her daughters-in-law 
were under twenty-five years of age, while the fourth 
— ^the mother of the four children — is under forty. 
The husband of this daughter was killed on the rail- 
road soon after coming to America. This was a ter- 
rible blow to the family, as his father died in Si- 
berian exile about the same time. 

Whatever may be the opinions of those who do 
not know the virtues of these Russians by actual 
acquaintance, we who have had the privilege of 
learning of their personal experience from their own 
lips, and have been witnesses of their self-sacrificing 
devotion to a high principle, and their affection one 
for another, must believe in them and their future. 

About seventy-five years ago the ^ ^ True Inspira- 
tion Society," a communistic society of Germans, 
came to America, an ^et tled in fiastern Iowa, in five 



villageSjUumberinff a few thousand souR Th^T IRlVU " 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTOX. 

Barbara Verigin and her household. 




COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY JOSEPH ELKINTON. 

Grandmother^s Surrey. 



PEKSONAL EXPEBIENCES. 67 

prospered wonderfully, and have become recognized 
as amongst the most successful and moral communi- 
ties of that State. When I visited them twenty-five 
years ago their farming and manufacturing indus- 
tries were carried on in the most approved way. We 
believe these Russians, who have escaped to this con- 
tinent after a century of persecution, will, in another 
generation, prove no less prosperous. 

Indeed, they have prospered remarkably already, 
as their comfortable homes and neat surroundings, 
full grain houses and numerous flocks, show. One 
cannot but admire their kindness to their less-favored 
neighbors. Time and again they have loaded up their 
wagons with food and clothing, and for whole days 
driven in search of the Galicians' homesteads, where 
they thought there was suffering for want of these 
things. 

As we were passing one of these poverty-stricken 
households, the mother besought me to baptize her 
youngest child. I tried to explain the one saving 
baptism of spiritual life in her soul, as best I could 
through my friend Michael Sherbinin, when our 
Doukhobor driver, who could also speak the Galician 
dialect, turned to her, and with tears in his eyes be- 
sought her to find the Saviour in her own heart. His 
whole face was radiant with the love of God as he 
told her that the baptism the child needed, Christ 
alone could bestow. 

It is a scene that continually comes back to my 
mind as one of the most impressive I witnessed while 
in the ^N'orthwest Territories. We were in a farm 



68 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

wagon, traveling across the prairie. This Galician 
family had just come to settle in a house scarcely fit 
for cattle to occupy. The roof was made of turf, and 
was partly fallen in. The mother was surrounded by 
six or eight little children, while her husband stood 
at her side, apparently much discouraged by their 
situation. It was raining, and the mosquitoes were 
terrible. We stopped to exchange a few words of 
sympathy with them, and to leave them some money. 
Then it was that this poor woman appealed to me in 
behalf of her baby. Her face was the picture of dis- 
tress for fear the child might die before it was bap- 
tized. I suppose they mistook me for a Greek priest, 
as I had on a Circassian goatskin cloak. 

Before we left her her expression was more com- 
fortable, but such is the ignorance of these Galicians 
that we felt she only half comprehended our ideas of 
baptism. 

As a pleasing finale to this chapter of my personal 
experiences, I insert an extract from the Manitoba 
Free Press, Twelfth month 23d, 1902, giving an ac- 
count of the long-looked-for arrival of the Doukho- 
bor leader, Peter Yerigin, a lthough as a matter of 
fact it occurred some months after I had returned to 
my home in Philadelphia: 

" For hours before the train from the east pulled 
in yesterday afternoon, a woman promenaded the 
platform awaiting its arrival. She was awaiting her 
brother, whom she had not seen for fifteen years. 
When, at a little before three o'clock, the train drew 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 69 

in, there alighted from one of the front coaches a tall, 
quiet-looking man, carrying a black leather valise 
studded with nickel bosses arranged in curious de- 
sign. A dark blue gaberdine reached half way to the 
knees; over his trousers were fastened close-fitting, 
dark-gray leggings, piped at the edges with black 
cloth. His headgear was a black fedora. Around his 
neck he wore a long cord, fastened to which were a 
heavy silver watch and a richly-chased gold pencil. 
Alongside the watch pocket was a fountain pen, 
secured by loops of the cloth. 

" The traveler wa s, Peter Yerlg j-n., ,n<»wlv come to 
^a^y^(]ff^^ fter,Ji^n years o f Siberian exile. The 
woman awaiting him wasliis sister. 

" In the crush of Christmas travel it was some time 
before those looking for the new arrival could find 
the object of their search. Accompanied by inter- 
preter Harvey, who had gone east to meet Verigin, 
and by Ewan Ivan, Paul Planidin and Simeon Rieben, 
three Doukhobors who had been deputed by the com- 
munities to extend to the Doukhobor leader a wel- 
come on his arrival, Verigin walked eastward along 
the platform. 

" His sister saw him, standing half a head taller 
than the average, and ran towards him, followed by 
the other waiting Doukhobors, with joyful cries. 
Verigin dropped his valise, took off his hat, opened 
his arms, and cried, ^ Anna ! ' He kissed his sister 
and the others, and quietly walked on toward the im- 
migration buildings, being introduced on the way to 



70 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

Mr. H. p. Archer, of Swan Eiver; to Immigration 
Agent Crerar, of Yorkton — ^both of whom have been 
for days in the city awaiting his coming; to Mrs. 
Almanovskj, who acted as interpreter, and to the 
Free Press representative. 

" On the party's arriving at the immigration build- 
ings, Verigin was shown the room set apart for his 
use. Here he spent a little time chatting with his 
sister and friends, inquiring after his mother, who 
is eighty-six years of age, and who lives at Poterpev- 
she village with his sister, whose full name is Anna 
Yasilievna Podovinnikov. Then, after the baggage 
had been packed away and the foregoing domestic in- 
quiries made, the party moved downstairs to Acting 
Commissioner Moffatt's office. 

" Mr. Moffatt greeted Verigin warmly, welcoming 
him to the west in the name of the Dominion authori- 
ties. In answer to his inquiries as to his voyage, 
Verigin said it was a long journey — ^good, but rough. 
He had sailed from Liverpool, after crossing Europe 
from Moscow to Warsaw, and thence to England. 

" * You'll be glad to be in a country,' said Mr. Mof- 
f att, ' where there is religious and individual free- 
dom.' 

" ^ I haven't looked round yet,' answered Verigin, 
through the interpreter, ^ so I cannot yet tell whether 
this is a free country or not.' 

" ' You know, however,' said Mr. Moffatt, ' that in 
Canada we do not put people in prison because of 
their political or religious views.' 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. Yl 

" ^ Oh, yes/ answered Verigin, ^ I know that/ 

" ^ People have been looking for your coming for 
a long time/ said Agent Crerar. ^ There are three 
hundred Doukhobors at Yorkton station, watching 
every train for you. And there is one person very 
anxious to see you, — ^your mother.' 

" Verigin had up to that time been quietly cour- 
teous and dignified; but here his manner underwent 
a change, becoming alertly interested. ' Did you see 
my mother; yes?' he asked. 'When did you see 
her ? Was she well ? ' 

" Mr. Crerar satisfied him on these points, and 
then Verigin asked him when the train could take 
him there. ' I am in a hurry to see my mother,' he 
said. ' There is no train till to-morrow ; yes ? I 
would go to-day if I could; yes ! ' 
, *' Then he realized that perhaps he might be tak- 
ing up too much of the Commissioner's time. ' Shall 
I see you again, yes ? ' he asked. ' You are perhaps 
now too occupied.' 

" Being assured on this point, Mr. Moffatt asked 
him concerning his visit to Ottawa. 

" ' I couldn't talk much business,' he said, ' for I 
have not seen the Doukhobors. Of myseK I know 
nothing of their troubles — only of what I have heard. 
They tell me the people would not take up their 
homestead lands.' 

" ' Did you hear of the pilgrimage ? ' asked Mr. 
Crerar, ' and of the action taken by the government 
to prevent the pilgrims from being frozen to death ? ' 



72 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 



(( i 



I have not heard any particulars/ answered 
Yerigin. ^ It was in print in the Russian papers. 
They said that two hundred people were frozen to 
death.' 

" Mr. Crerar told him that this was entirely false. 
Pointing to the Free Press representative — who was 
the only newspaper man present at the interview — 
Mr. Crerar told Verigin that he had accompanied the 
pilgrims throughout their wanderings, and personally 
knew of all the facts in connection therewith. ' Is 
that so, yes ? ' said Yerigin. ' I shall have much to 
ask him.' 

" Throughout the interview Yerigin said little, 
only speaking in reply to questions, and allowing the 
others to do the talking. His manner was marked 
with a natural courtesy and simple dignity that 
would single him out for notice anywhere. His voice 
is low, and of a singular sweetness. Physically, Yeri- 
gin is a splendid type of his race. Tall and strongly 
built, and of erect and graceful carriage, he would 
attract attention among hundreds of good-looking 
men. His features are regular, and his skin of an 
olive pallor. His hair and beard- — ^which is luxuriant 
— are black as jet. His eyes are dark and thought- 
ful, and his whole expression that of a man who has 
suffered much, and has triumphed over everything 
through the force of kingly courage and constancy. 

'^ It was evident that he would make no statement 
as to his future actions, or the counsel he would give 
the Doukhobors, who for months have been anx- 




Arrival of Peter Verigin at Terpenie. 




Terpenie (White Sand River), the Model Village. 
(Photographs by T. V. Simpson, V.S.) 



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1 


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Winter Scenes in the Doukhobor A^illases. 
(Photographs by T. V. Simpsou, V. S.) 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 73 

iously awaiting his coining, till he had personally 
familiarized himself with every phase of the situa- 
tion. Mr. Moffatt, indeed, and wisely, did not at- 
tempt to draw from Verigin any statement. ^ You 
will know all about the troubles the government has 
had with the Doukhobors,' he said, ' when you get 
among them. We all hope your coming may have a j 
very good effect. We will do anything possible to 
help you. You must be tired after your long jour- 
ney. And you must be hungry. So now I'll say 
good-bye to you, and wish you a safe journey to your 
mother to-morrow.' 

" Yerigin listened gravely, and when this was 
translated, rose and shook hands with the Commis- 
sioner. ^ I thank you much,' said he ; ^ I hope my 
coming may be good. I hope so, indeed,' and so went 
upstairs to his room. 

" In a few minutes a message was sent down to the 
Free Press man, asking him to join Yerigin in the lat- 
ter's room. The reporter found Planidin, Rieben and 
Yerigin's sister busy in preparing a meal for the trav- 
eler. Yerigin sat in an armchair, and, after welcom- 
ing the newspaper man, resumed his conversation 
with Mrs. Almanovsky, asking many questions as to 
the location of the different Doukhobor villages and 
communities. Before he had concluded. Agent 
Crerar came up to ascertain if Yerigin would stay 
long in Yorkton. Representative Doukhobors from 
every village in Yorkton and Swan River colonies 
were there, and the government desired to have a list 




74 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

compiled of all the Doukhobors eligible for home- 
steads, the number of those willing to take up land, 
the number of those who had already made entry, 
and the reasons for not making entry on the part of 
those who refused. Verigin said he did not want to 
delay to hold any such conference at the present 
time, — he wanted to get to the village where his 
mother was. 

" ' Couldn't all these people see me to-morrow 
night ? ' he asked. But it was explained that the 
train did not arrive till late. * Then let it be in two 
or three weeks,' he said. 

^' The conversation drifted to Eussian topics. Mr. 
Crerar said that he had heard the Czar proposed re- 
leasing all Siberian exiles at the 'New Year. Verigin 
laughed heartily. ' You must have read that in a 
newspaper,' he said; 'what is said in newspapers is 
not always true. It is only the students that are 
going to be released.' 

" He was asked to say something concerning his 
life in exile. ' That would be a long story,' he said. 
' If I could talk English I should much like to tell 
you. But you cannot always trust interpreters. I 
was sent to exile from the Caucasus for five years; 
when that was passed I was sent^T TiiTjd f ur an ul h ^ji 
^Ye years, and when that, too, had gone, I was given 
yet another five years. When I was allowed to go 
free I wanted to go to the Caucasus to see my wife 
and son, but the government would not allow me, nor 
would they allow them to come to see me. They 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 75 

might have come to Canada with the Doukhobors 
four years ago, but they would not, because it would 
take them farther from me, and I do not know 
whether the government will give them passports to 
come to Canada, and perhaps I shall never see them/ 

" As Verigin talked of his wife his voice broke 
several times. He sprang up from his chair, and 
paced up and down the room while speaking of them,, 
and it was some minutes before he regained his com- 
posure. 

" ' What did you do while in exile ? ' next asked 
the reporter. 

" ' Do ? ' repeated Verigin, ' why, we ate and slept,, 
of course. I used an axe, and carpentered, and built 
stores. We had all to earn our own living, for the 
Russian government allows nothing for the suste- 
nance of its exiles. Many times I asked for a trial^ 
but it was always refused. I was never condemned 
by a judge, or by due process of law, but by an " ad- 
ministrative order " of the government, which en- 
ables them to detain any person objectionable to it.' 

" * Are the reports of cruelty and ill-usage of the 
exiles, of which we sometimes hear, true ? ' 

" ' In what way you mean, ill-use ? ' answered 
Verigin. ' The exiles are sent to a village. They 
have to walk all the way. If they are tired and fall 
behind, they are beaten. If they try to run away 
they are shot. If they go outside the village boun- 
daries they are punished — maybe sent down the 
mines,' 



76 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

" At Moscow, Verigin saw Count Tolstoi, who wab 
rejoiced at his release. ^ I wonder if the government 
hasn't made a mistake,' he said; ' you'd better get to 
Canada soon, for they may change their minds and 
give you another five years.' 

" By this time Verigin's sister and the others had 
completed their preparations for the meal. The ket- 
tle was set on the white table cloth, woven by the 
Doukhobor women — (it was spotlessly clean and did 
not soil it in the least) — ^to use as a samovar. Bread 
and jam were the staples. Loaf sugar was poured 
out on a plate, and eaten as a relish. During the 
progress of the repast, Yerigin chatted with perfect 
ease on general topics. He said he wanted to take a 
walk around the city that evening, as his Doukhobor 
friends had often written to him of its marvels. He 
looked with some surprise at the electric light when 
it was turned on, but merely remarked, ' I am seeing 
new things all the time/ " 



CHAPTER II. 

THE PBOBLEM OF EDUCATION AND TEAINING. 

To educate and develop into loyal citizens of a free 
State a people who have for a century suffered per- 
secution and even martyrdom for conscience' sake 
at the hands of their rulers, requires the utmost tact 
and wisdom. Such is the frailty of the human mind, 
that custom and tradition are easily mistaken for the 
dictates of conscience. This was very noticeably the 
case among some of the communities of the Univer- 
sal Brotherhood. The Saskatchewan Doukhobors 
were more disposed to accept the suggestions that 
were made to them about the schooling of their chil- 
dren than were their Yorkton brethren. The disin- 
clination they all felt to accepting such instruction 
from the Government schools was the natural result 
of the cruel treatment they had previously received 
in Russia, creating a suspicion regarding all Govern- 
ment efforts to teach their children. When they 
were told that the -^odfity of T^i'if^'nrls h arl worked 
harmoniously for two centuries with the govern- 
ments under which they lived, and yet had main- 
tained its own schools, it seemed to open their minds 
to the desirability of literary instruction, if it could 
be obtained in that way. 

About the time the Doukhobors were leaving Rus- 
sia, Pe|er Verigin, th eir exiled leader, wrote to 
them: "People write to me that in America school 



78 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

teacliing is obligatory. It is better to be so, because 
elementary teaching is necessary as a help in life; 
for instance, in order to be able to read or write 
something. One must not think that school teaching 
will completely enlighten a man, but I repeat, it can 
be a help, and a man by reading books can acquire 
knowledge, and also his mind will in general develop 
thereby. 

" Briefly, I believe if God grants to our people to 
settle in America the elementary training will be 
necessary. It would be good if the children were so 
taught as to enable them to adapt the knowledge 
practically to the requirements of their daily home 
life." 

With this clear recommendation of their chief, 
one would suppose that the rank and file of this 
brotherhood would adopt his wise suggestions on this 
subject, but unhappily other teachers, not originally 
of their sect, have been active in his absence, work- 
ing upon their untutored minds. Their inheritance 
and former environment must also be considered if 
we would judge them fairly. 

Time and again, when I talked with them, they 
would ask me if I could not look at these subjects of 
education and land tenure from their standpoint, 
and I may confess it required time and much effort 
to dispossess my mind of my Anglo-Saxon preconcep- 
tions. A most unjust seizure of a valuable horse by 
a school district trustee as a fine for the refusal to 
pay a school tax of $8.00, which the Doukhobors 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. 79 

could scarcely understand as obligatory upon them 
to pay while their children were not admitted to the 
district school, had thoroughly outraged the whole 
community settled near Yorkton. By what warrant 
such an act was perpetrated no one could explain, but 
I endeavored to assure them that this instance was 
quite exceptional in the administration of the Cana- 
dian government. 

While listening to one of their most intelligent and 
representative men, as he explained how unfavorably 
this action had impressed the Doukhobors through- 
out all their villages, their " standpoint " dawned 
upon me, so I could the better understand and the 
more sympathetically enter into their fears. In 
short, I realized 

"The heart must bleed before it feels; 
The pool be troubled before it heals." 

Their ignQrance- and poverty and sufferings, with a ll 
the emphasis they put upon the spiritual verities, 
came crowding into my mind. Their inherited ten- 
dencies and limitations sadly limit their mental out- 
look, but in the midst of their crudeness and ignor- 
ance there is the promise of true character, for they 
have the foundation of strong minds. 

Let us for a moment place ourselves in their posi- 
tion, step back two or three centuries in our educa- 
tional advantages, and then endeavor to realize the 
isolation and oppression under which they have ex- 
isted, ever and anon rallying to an ideal standard of 
brotherhood with a continual protest against the 



80 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

cruelty of an unchristian government. If, then, sud- 
denly placed under the most enlightened and free 
government in the world, could we fully appreciate 
our new surroundings and opportunities at once ? 
Would not the habit of suffering for a principle be 
so indelibly stamped upon our neglected minds as 
almost to compel us to think we were not doing our 
duty without experiencing some kind of torture ? 
Thus the y are, unconsciously, the victims of a men- 
tal habi t formed under totally diiferent conditions. 

A people who think they have come, in spiritual 
descent at least, from the three children of Israel 
who came out of the fiery furnace without the smell 
of fire upon their garments, and who believe the mis- 
s^onof evangelizing the world has been committed 
to them, because tney nave me oracles of God in the 
form of the new and great Commandment of Jesus 
Christ; — such a people, exhibiting in no common de- 
gree the fruits of the spirit, should be led out of their 
mental darkness without offending their conscien- 
tious convictions. This is only possible through sym- 
pathy and love. The Apostle Paul dealt vdth such 
a state of mind and of faith when he wrote, " Let not 
him that eateth [meat] despise him that eateth [it] 
not; and let not him that eateth not judge him that 
eateth: for God hath received him. . . . Let us not 
therefore judge one another any more; but judge 
this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an 
occasion to fall in his brother's way. . . . All things 
indeed are pure, but it is evil for that man who eat- 
eth with offense." 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. 81 

The truth has always been largely entrusted to 
poor, ignorant men. It was so in the first and in 
every subsequent century of our era. To be sure it 
was well-nigh buried by the Judaism and narrow- 
mindedness of the first disciples of our Lord, and it is 
still struggling for recognition in the professing 
Church of Christ. 

" But these very limitations may become a bless- 
ing. Not to supplant others in the strife after 
earthly position or possessions, but to gain the spir- 
itual power to turn the limitations which defeat into 
the instruments of heavenly blessing, makes one a 
prince with God. Limitations are often the condi- 
tions of the birth of character." * 

The more I talked with these honest-hearted men 
and women the more fully and deeply impressed be- 
came the conviction that t hey possessed the very 
germ of moral, civil and spiritual reform, and that 
within a few years their children will acquire such 
knowledge of American life and customs as to cor- 
rect the misunderstandings of their parents. One 
of the very pleasant scenes that I recall was the evi- 
dent satisfaction which the older members of a cer- 
tain family in the Saskatchewan colony showed when 
a little boy of ten years read to me out of an English 
primer; and this method of reaching the elders is 
the key to the whole educational situation. As soon 
as the parents have confidence in those who teach 



* George A. Barton, " The Roots of Christian Teaching aa 
Found in the Old Testament." 



82 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

their cMldren, — ^that thej will not undermine any of 
their religious tenets, and are working in a truly 
disinterested way, — ^they extend their hearty co-ope- 
ration. 



The educational service which I^ellie Baker, of 
Toronto, rendered to the Doukhobors is one of the 
brightest spots in the history of the settlement. It is 
graphically described in TJie Christian Herald of 
Eleventh month 7th, 1900: 

" The Doukhobors are anxious to become Cana- 
dians and to be able to communicate with the Anglo- 
Saxon settlers around them. Knowing this, two 
ladies of Kingston, Ontario, Mrs. Eliza H. Varney, 
a Quaker, and her young cousin, Miss ^N^ellie Baker, 
determined to establish a little summer school at one 
of the Doukhobor villages on Good Spirit Lake. Mrs. 
Yarney had already passed the summer of 1899 
there, conducting a dispensary for the Doukhobors, 
who have no physicians among them. They pitched 
their tents near three of the Doukhobor villages: a 
small tent for their residence, another for the dis- 
pensary (which was under Mrs. Vamey's charge), 
and a third, 20 by 20 feet, for the school, over which 
Miss Baker presided, and for which work her studies 
at Queen University (together with a natural apti- 
tude and Christian sympathy) had fitted her. Mrs. 
Varney had won the affections of the villagers the 
previous year, and they were not slow to send their 




Eliza, H. Varney. 




Nellie Baker. 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. 83 

children to the new school, some of them arriving 
before the ladies had unpacked their luggage. 

" Miss Baker's report of her experiment, which 
has just been made to the Canadian Commissioner of 
Immigration, shows what difficulties she encountered. 
She found herself confronted by a tentful of boys 
and girls, with none of whom did she have a single 
known word in common. ^ By signs and motions,' she 
says, ' I got them seated in rows on the prairie grass 
of the tent floor, and holding up a pencil said " One.'' 
I could not detect any apparent comprehension. 
Then taking up another pencil, I said, " Two," and 
then another, and said, " Three." Still no response, 
and my heart sank somewhat. However, I decided 
to repeat the method, and as I said " One," I noticed 
a look on a boy's face that told me he knew I was 
counting, and I saw him turn and speak to the others. 
Almost instantly they understood, and soon, repeat- 
ing after me, they counted up to ten.' 

" From this beginning the course of teaching pro- 
ceeded. Some of the pupils walked ^ve miles to 
school and ^\e miles back every day. The children 
were never tired. The favorite method was object 
teaching. ^ They learned the divisions of time from 
a watch, to count money from coins, and so on. The 
children had a natural taste for figures, and at the 
end of the two months the older children had suc- 
ceeded in getting through one-half of the multiplica- 
tion table, and some of the more advanced pupils 
were in the second (Canadian) reader.' In writing. 



84 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

she declares that some of them equaled or surpassed 
the teacher. 

" The children were anxious to have tasks assigned 
to them to prepare at home, and never were satisfied 
with the amount of such tasks; they always wanted 
more. At first the Doukhobors did not know that 
Miss Baker's work was, like Mrs. Vamey's, entirely 
voluntary and unremunerated. When they found it 
out, they sent a committee to her to offer her some 
compensation, although they were in need them- 
selves. When she declined it they told her that they 
thanked her ^ all the day and all the night.' Some of 
the older boys, who did not know a word of any lan- 
guage but Russian at the beginning of July, can now, 
after barely two months' teaching, correspond with 
Miss Baker in * fairly understandable English!' " 

" Lally Bernard " says in The (Toronto) Globe, 
Twelfth month 1st, 1900: 

" The greatest care should be exercised in the 
choice of the teachers sent to the Doukhobor colo- 
nies. The men and women who undertake to teach 
these people will have an immense responsibility 
resting upon their shoulders, and immature teachers, 
or those who go mainly from a sordid motive, may 
do irreparable harm. Miss Baker's work was a labor 
of love, and was accomplished under great difficulties, 
but her interest and sympathy were so keen, and her 
intelligence of so high an order, that the work she 
did was unusually successful." 





PHOTOGRAPHtD BY NELLIE BAKER. 

Nellie Baker's classes. 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY NELLIE BAKER. 



Some of Nellie Baker's pupils. 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. 85 

Helen Morland, of London, has been conducting 
a school at Good Spirit Lake for three months, under 
the auspices of English Friends, and Hannah Bel- 
lows, daughter of John Bellows, expects to join her 
in the spring of 1903. As stated elsewhere, Friends 
of Philadelphia are providing a school for the Prince 
Albert colony, on the banks of the Saskatchewan 
Kiver. 

I have just received a letter from one of their 
leaders, in which he asks that this new Saskatchewan 
River school-house be built in his village. This man 
went from village to village with us entreating his 
brethren to put aside their fears that an English edu- 
cation might lead their children away from their 
religious doctrines, and I assured them that it was 
my desire in no wise to interfere with these. He is 
one of those of whom it can be said, in the words of 
Aylmer Maude, " J^either oaths of allegiance nor 
the stupefying effect of [military] discipline can be 
depended on permanently to shut out from men's 
hearts and minds the ideals of the prophets and the 
aspirations of the saints; [for] when the test came 
events showed that among these common, illiterate 
Doukhobors, along with obvious faults and limita- 
tions of their own, there dwelt a large measure of the 
spirit of martyrs and the courage of heroes; and so 
wonderful are the workings of the Holy Spirit that 
those, whose faults and limitations in ordinary life 



86 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

may be patent to all candid observers, may yet be 
found faithful unto death in the day of trial/' 

To educate such a people is indeed, a profound 
problem, and we will need to undertake the task after 
a careful study of the conditions from which they 
have escaped, in order to appreciate the difficulties 
they had labored under for a century. 

M. Ponomarev, Inspector of Primary Schools in 
Russia, recently summed up his observations when 
inspecting the rural district schools as follows. 

" In Russian villages the shepherd is happier than 
the male teacher, and the latter happier than the 
female teacher." 

^^ The moujik considers the teacher a man who 
lives at his expense, and he pays him less than the 
shepherd. When snow has fallen and the boys are 
without anything to do, being unable on account of 
the winter to be of help to their parents, the latter 
think of their education. An ^ outchitel,' or school- 
master, is hired by the villagers, who agree to feed 
and to pay him. The price varies from 10 to 60 
roubles ($9 to $40) for the whole winter, which is 
very long in Russia. As to the food, it is not so good 
as that of the shepherd; each family whose children 
frequent the school feeds in its turn the schoolmas- 
ter. The school building is a miserable hut, often 
contiguous to the house of the moujik, where pigs, 
hens and cows are fed twice a day. It is the business 
of the teacher to keep his school clean. There is no 
ventilation; at the approach of the cold weather all 



THE EDUCATIONAL PKOBLEM. 87 

windows are hermetically closed with clay or glazier's 
putty. The moujik cannot understand that anything 
should be opened in winter time. In regard to the 
heating, it is quite primitive. Each scholar is bound 
to bring some pieces of wood to heat the school. 
When it is freezing too hard the pupils do not come, 
and the teacher, being compelled to remain until the 
evening, envelopes himself in his touloupe, or sheep- 
skin, and stays motionless in a comer of the ^ khata,' 
or school hut. 

" Such is the custom in poor villages. In the rich 
villages the schoolmaster, instead of being a martyr, 
becomes a tyrant. He strikes the pupils brutally, 
tears off their ears, pulls their hair and breaks their 
teeth, for he is almost continually drunk. The offi- 
cial report instances many cases in which the chil- 
dren were violently thrown on the ground and 
bruised by the teacher's feet to such a point that the 
blood gushed out from their noses and mouths. But 
what is most extraordinary is that those queer school- 
masters intrust the task of teaching to the best 
scholars. These are called ^ the first group,' or ^ the 
professors,' and they are not above eight or ten years 
of age. While they try to teach their little comrades 
the schoolmaster sits down to drink in the next 
' kabako.' " 

The Doukhobors were denied even such instruc- 
tion as this account represents, and it is not to be 
wondered at that they should look with contempt 
upon such instructors. 



88 



THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 




On the other hand they would do well to appre- 
ciate that education in its proper and true methods 
is essential to them if they would develop all their 
faculties, and detect how intimately the intellectual 
and religious processes are blended. The Bible, even 
as an intellectual corrective of religious ideas, would 
be invaluable to them, and this, under enforced illit- 
eracy, they have not had the opportunity to read. 
But they are not the first people who have been made 
the victims of false teaching through their ignorance 
of the Bible. 

As these children of the soil are very observant of 
natural phenomena and appreciative of the beauties 
of the physical world, it seems very fitting to ap- 
proach them through this channel, and I found them 
more easily convinced by the parables of Christ's 
teaching along this line than in any other way. 

It is one of the most simple and eifective methods 
that can be employed, and is also a happy way of 
teaching the Bible to them. This also appeals 
strongly to those who have been blessed with an in- 
timate knowledge of the Holy Scriptures from their 
infancy, and who have had the advantage of seeing 
the practical illustration of the truths contained in 
them applied to daily living, as many of the Doukho- 
bors have endeavored to do. 

The number of Scripture quotations that I heard 
while among them made me marvel at the diligence 
of the Doukhobors in instructing their children in 
the Scriptures, especially considering how few can 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. 89 

read. Yet I could clearly see that many important 
passages had been omitted, and some misconstrued, 
the context being disregarded, l^aturally, they do 
not wish strangers to indoctrinate them with new in- 
terpretations, as they have suffered so much to main- 
tain their own; and yet by playing upon their natu- 
ral mental bias they can be easily led into the accept-' 
ance of new ideas. We have seen how some of them 
were willing to accept such literal and foolish inter- 
pretations of familiar texts as started them on a pil- 
grimage in search of Jesus, and to discard the proper 
use of animals. Yet their very proneness to error 
indicates how readily they may respond to right 
teaching, and this was illustrated by the fact that no 
Doukhobors near Good Spirit Lake, where Robert 
and Elizabeth Buchanan have taken so much interest 
in them, would join their deluded brethren of the 
Yorkton colony. 

As I studied the unique combination of spiritual 
ideals with undeveloped mental powers which some 
of the men of the Yorkton colonies exhibited in the 
conferences I had with them, I saw that endless 
patience and a sympathetic appreciation of their con- 
victions were absolutely essential to lead them out of 
their mistaken conclusions. Yet, granted patience 
and sympathetic treatment, their enlightenment is 
not a hopeless undertaking by any means. The high 
moral standard they maintain, and their thrift, bear 
ample evidence of a right development of the mind 
in many respects, and yet their inability to see that 



90 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

their spiritual interests do not necessarily conflict 
with such sane institutions as the homestead and reg- 
istration laws and the public school system, reveals 
a crudeness of mind which cannot be overcome at 
once. 

The most speedy solution of these difficulties would 
be to give the women of their communities their 
rightful place. They are greatly in the majority, 
many of the men having been killed and banished. 
One finds three times as many women as there are 
men in their villages. These women have often had 
to carry all the burdens of making and keeping up 
the home, with the training of their children. 

Repeatedly I urged the Doukhobor men to give 
their women an opportunity to speak in their confer- 
ences, but the oriental idea obtains so positively and 
persistently it was very difficult to get any expression 
from them at such times. Once out of the Assem- 
bly, however, they would frequently give their 
opinions, sometimes far from complimentary to their 
brethren, including ourselves in one instance. On 
this occasion my interpreter overheard a typical 
debate between the women of a certain household on 
one side, and the men on the other. 

We had talked for some time, and I proposed that 
the fourteenth chapter of John might be read in Rus- 
sian, when one of the Doukhobor women said, in an 
undertone, " Those men are no good, or rather they 
are helpless, unless they have the Bible or some book 
under their arms; while we have the truths they 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. 91 

speak of in our hearts, and are living them out 
daily." The man standing opposite to her across the 
room replied, " I advise you to hold your peace and 
listen, for you may learn some things you don't 
know." 

We were highly amused with this bit of independ- 
ence on the part of our critic, for she expressed her 
honest opinion, and there was a truth in her thought 
worthy of our consideration, while the supplement- 
ary suggestion of the man also had its place.' 

" With reference to their children," says Aylmer 
Maude, " I think any one who has seen how obedi- 
ent, considerate, and quick to be of use, the Douk- 
hobor children usually are, will be inclined to admit 
that most of us have much to learn from these people 
on the subject of education. Even regarding instruc- 
tion (as apart from education proper), their knowl- 
edge of agriculture and of useful handicraft, coupled 
with a serious attention to religion as a guide to daily 
life, are more likely to help them to live useful and 
happy lives than any knowledge of vulgar fractions 
or of the eccentricities of English orthography." 

The self-control which they instill into their chil- 
dren may well put to shame most American families. 
Soon after their arrival on this continent a group of 
Doukhobor children were playing with some Cana- 
dian children, when one of the latter was accidentally 
hurt and ran home crying. The father of this boy 
was so enraged that he rushed at the only Doukho- 
bor child who remained on the playground, and 



92 THE DOUKHOBORS IIN^ CANADA. 

kicked this little fellow, who had not been playing at 
all, but innocently sitting near the scene of the 
trouble, so that he died shortly after from the in- 
juries received. 

The parents of the lad and all the Doukhobors 
forthwith signed a memorial expressing their sorrow 
for the boy's death, but asking that the man who 
killed him should not be punished. Such an attitude 
of mind and heart was reflected throughout their 
communities in the children. Indeed, it was one of 
the very pleasant features of my visit among their 
villages to observe the gentleness of their manners. 
I do not recall a single instance of quarreling among 
all the groups of children I saw at play, and when I 
gathered them together they invariably showed a 
courtesy toward the smaller members of the group. 

These bright-eyed boys and girls would stand by 
the hour to hear some story of how houses were 
made in America, or how steamships were propelled 
across the ocean, etc. Several of them, not over 
twelve years of age, had picked up enough English 
to understand without an interpreter. If their 
daughters between twelve and sixteen years of age 
were permitted to go to school they would within 
four years acquire sufficient knowledge of English to 
be competent to teach their younger brothers and 
sisters. 

But here is one of the practical difficulties to over- 
come, and it was on this very point that I had the 
warmest contention with their elders. There were 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. 93 

frequently twenty-five to thirty robust girls of four- 
teen to sixteen in each village who ought to have had 
the privileges of a primary education. To send a 
girl to school, however, seemed never to have dawned 
upon them, and it was only after the most earnest 
assurances that they were just as worthy and capa- 
ble of receiving instruction as their boys were that I 
obtained a promise of permission for these girls to go 
to the boarding school now about being erected in 
the Duck Lake colony. 

One might hunt the world over and not find a 
more promising or more inspiring mission field, — 
such a physically vigorous and highly moral peop le, 
with^such alert minds, purely, with all t heir ignor- 
< ance, and even fanaticisni , such a people is worthy 
of our help. 

, It was Annie Besant who said, in her autobiog- 
raphy: " Plenty of people wish well to any good 
cause, but very few care to exert themselves to help 
it, and still fewer will risk anything in its support. 
* Some one ought to do it, but why should I ? ' is the 
ever-reechoed phrase of weak-kneed amiability. 
^ Some one ought to do it, so why not I ? ' is the cry 
of some earnest servant of man, eagerly springing 
forward to face some perilous duty; and between 
these two lie whole centuries of moral evolution." 

Much may be accomplished if those who feel a 
right prompting to engage in so good a work will go 
among these Doukhobors with a sincere desire to 
learn from them; — for in some things, especially 



94 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

touching their religious opinions, they consider them- 
selves quite as much enlightened as their instructors ; 
and this trait cannot, by the way, be said to be 
altogether peculiar to the Doukhobors. In this con- 
nection, for their religion is inseparably bound up 
with their education, one must always have regard 
to the superior claims of their faith, and be able to 
appreciate the strength of their convictions; while 
on the other hand we should, in the language of 
^ylmer Mau de, " be on our guard against confound- 
ing the sect witEThe truths on which they have built 
their polity." The sect has erred in the past, and has 
even split in pieces, as some larger and more favored 
bodies of Christians have done, and there are many 
possibilities of disintegration for the future, but the 
correctness of certain principles to which they have 
testified, and for which they have suffered, " will 
remain as long as the conscience of man continues 
to influence his actions." 

These long-persecuted peasants need to be shown 
how the mind enters into all human beliefs, and 
thereby introduces an element of human fallibility 
which has to be allowed for to an extent which few 
suspect. 

Another phase of the educational work which 
should not be overlooked results from the Russian 
custom of sending every peasant to learn some 
handicraft during half the year. In this way we 
■can account for the readiness of the Doukhobors to 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. 95 

make almost anything with their hands. To utilize 
this quality, and not allow it to lapse, a manual labor 
department should be attached to every school 
started among them. It was particularly pleasing to 
see just such provision made by themselves in the 
basement of a school house which the Doukhobors 
had built in one of their villages. 

This, it seems to me, is the best way to go about 
getting into close touch with them. Of course the 
teaching of the English language is important, and 
may be carried on simultaneously. The greatest 
need on the part of their would-be helpers is an 
honest heart with a practical head. 

If such practical, sympathetic instructors can be 
found, who will enter heartily into their customs, 
and make use of them to lead the people to a larger 
appreciation of the privileges of the free and en- 
lightened government under which they now live, 
great progress in their development will appear. If, 
on the other hand, there is an undue insistence upon 
Anglo-Saxon ways and thoughts, it will only tend to 
drive them further into the false ideas about 
" liberty " which they so often express, confusing- 
spiritual freedom with social or industrial independ- 
ence. If I were to express briefly my idea of the 
best plan to help them it would be: First, to get their 
confidence by a hearty appreciation of their opinions 
and customs, — ^which have, in general, much about 
them that one can admire, — and to lead them by easy 
steps to distinguish between their conscience and 



96 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

their customs, and thus eventually to recognize their 
own educational needs. 

In attempting to educate those who have such 
strong convictions and inherited customs as the 
Doukhobors have, it certainly is wise to work along 
the line of least resistance. 

Their strongest principle is t hatj^f love to their 
fellow^en^^^d the affection they show for their 
families is proverbial. The reflection of this affec- 
tion was strikingly apparent among the children 
themselves, for, being drilled in the school of self- 
sacrifice, they instinctively responded to any appeal 
made in a loving spirit, at least when the subject was 
within their mental grasp. 4^-SOon as a Doukhobor 
re alizes that you are g enuinely in sympj 
him, his services are at yuux^ iSijO l j^l, b at withott £ 



this sympaihy one will labor lii vam. ix would, ther- 
fore, be well to appreciate at once that one must 
recogn izejji pjr merits. * '" 

Iven the most advanced among them are some- 
times crude in their ideas, but possess a certain 
innate honesty and simplicity of thought that is quite 
refreshing. An interesting instance of this has re- 
cently come to hand in connection with the building 
of the school-house in the Prince Albert colony. 
My correspondent is one of their most earnest and 
progressive men, about forty-four years of age. He 
says: " As the Terpenie and Oospenie people showed 
the warmest interest in the school, our brethren ask 
that one-half of the building be built in Terpenie 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM. 97 

village, as we are told that the proposed school-house 
is to be one of two stories." 

In the language of one * who visited the Doukho- 
bors at the time of their first settlement in Canada, 
we still think while " these people may not have the 



bool^eaoaua^^f Amer icans , and we may be able to 
teach them many useful things, tlie benept is not all 
one-sided, 

" The gentleness of manners that springs from 
kindliness oi heart lias a' great charm, and the con- 
trast between the casual greetings of the modem 
civilized world and the deferential salutation of the 
Doukhobor men and women leaves one something to 
think about. 

" Our modern ac<ieptation of the word ' education ' 
is a strange one, and the definition of the term ' cul- 
ture ' as a condition of the intellect rather than 
amassed knowledge is a definition which is not suffi- 
ciently appreciated on this continent." 



* " Lally Bernard," in " The Canadian Doukhobor Settle- 
ments," a series of letters to "The (Toronto) Globe." 



CHAPTEK III. 

THE DOUKHOBORS AS HOMEMAKERS. 

When the vanguard of the Doukhobor emigration 
reached this side of the Atlantic there were not 
wanting critics who could see in the movement only 
an influx of p^^p^rs. "j^jytr uthC th e Doukhobors ar- 
rived in C anada alm ost utterly destitute of material 
wealth. Their transportation from Russia had ab- 
sorbed whatever slight resources they had previously 
possessed, and even then had only been made possi- 
ble by the help they had received from the Society 
of Friends. The Canadian Government was forced 
to help them in securing transportation to their new 
^^airie homes, and in providing the necessaries of 
life after they got there; and many times since its 
watchful officials have stood between their wards 
and absolute starvation. Ljjrg e sums of m oney have 
■been spe nt by the Fri ends of Philadelphia and of 
London Yearly Meetings to stock their farms and to 
provide them with implements of husbandry and 
other necessaries of agriculture. Perhaps no other 
people ever received so much help from the charita- 
bly-disposed in so short a time. Yet one thing on 
which their best friends and their harshest critics 
could now absolutely agree is the statement that 
they are not now, never have been, and show no signs 
of becoming, paupers. Their pitiable poverty w as 
their misfortune, not their fault; and every lift 



THE DOUKHOBORS AS HOMEMAKERS. 99 

which helping hands have since given them they 
have utilized as aids to them in the task of helping 
themselves. 

Their initial task of making habitable shelters for 
themselves was one which would have strained the 
resources of the hardiest pioneers. They were located 
on^he^bare prairie, almost with ^t tools ^building 
materials, d istan t^fag ^ ■SOttf^^gM^f gii^pplips^ with aut^ 
money, haras.a &dH^yT ^i^^kn ou u, Ti Ubject to the rigor of a 
strange climate, with winter fast approaching. The 
energy, resource, ingenuity and fortitude which they 
displayed under these circumstances are well de- 
scribed by May Fitz-Gibbon (" Lally Bernard ''), 
who visited them during the summer and fall of 1899, 
soon after their arrival: 

" The men of each community were called upon to 
hire thtsmselves out as farm laborers and railway 
navvies. The distances in the West are enormous, 
and it meant simply the exodus of the men from the 
Tillages, and an absence that was to be counted bj 
weeks or months. Then, too, in a village of perhaps 
a hundred and twenty souls they might have a yoke 
of oxen or one pair of horses, and these were to 
plough, and carry lumber for the frames of houses, 
and, more than all, transport flour from a great dis- 
tance to feed the community. The question was a 
grave one; winter comes quickly in these latitudes. 
But the question was answered by the women, who 
turned to, helped the few men left in the village to 

build the houses, and not only trod the mortar and 

L.of C. 



100 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

used their hands as trowels, but carted the logs, draw- 
ing them for miles with the aid of two simple little 
wooden wheels, which were no bigger than those of a 
child's go-cart. The earth for the mortar was car- 
ried on their backs in baskets woven of willow or in 
huge platters hewn out of logs; the water was 
carried at times for half a mile in two buckets hewn 
like platters out of trunks of trees and hung at the 
end of a long sapling. A deep trench was dug, and 
by the edge sat a score of women less strong than 
their Spartan sisters, chopping with a rude hatchet 
hay or grass to mix with the water in the trench or 
pit. Bucket after bucket of water was poured in 
from the primitive wooden pails, while six women 
with skirts kilted up nearly to their waists trod the 
mortar until it was as smooth as paste. Another gang 
of women carried it in the wooden troughs to the 
houses, where six or eight others plastered the logs 
both inside and out with the cold clay paste. 

" The neatness of the work was astonishing, for 
while in some cases logs large enough to build a log 
house were to be found, in others they had to be 
woven out of coarse willow branches, the upright 
posts alone being of sufficient strength to support the 
roofs of sod (two layers) laid on with a neatness and 
precision that is seldom seen in this country; and the 
walls of the houses themselves were not only stuffed 
with clay, but presented, both inside and out, as 
smooth a surface as if the trowel of a first-rate plas- 
terer had been at work. In many cases these people 




be 



4J 
Of 






QJ 

« 



THE DOUKHOBORS AS HOMEMAKERS. 101 

had neither tools nor nails, and the carpentering 
work of the interior of the houses is a marvel of in- 
genuity. '^ 

It was under difficulties fuUj as great, and met 
with courage and resource equally surprising, that 
the beginnings were made in the work of cultivating 
the soil. So few draft animals were available, and 
the needs for them were so pressing and multifari- 
ous, that.^.^much earth was broken by the women 
Jbarnessing themselves to the plough. Th e pi6tUf(^!J 
of this novel scene were widely disseminated, and 
elicited much unfair comment from the uninformed 
on the supposed cruelty of the Doukhobor men. The 
real significance of the operation is thus explained 
by May Fitz- Gib bon in on e of her letters from the 
DoutLobor Settlements: 

" The women of the Doukhobors are not in the 
habit of drawing ploughs or of building houses, but, 
like many others of their sex, they are capable of 
rising to the occasion; and this was one of the occa- 
sions when they distinguished themselves, as many of 
our pioneer ancestresses have done in days gone by. 
The summer season in that part of the world is short, 
and the supply of horses and oxen very meagre. The 
men of the village had been obliged to bring logs for 
the houses from a great distance, an d many of them 
were working on distant farms. " E to vr ^^P short; , 
tfie distance to^ ^Yorkton meant a tramp of at least 
thirjty-nine miles, and the return meant the carrying 
of large sacks of flour on the women's shoulders. A 



102 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

woman's council was held, and it was decided that the 
only cattle available were to be sent to Yorkton, and 
the women declared that they would pull the plough. 
There was not an hour to be lost ! they knew that 
the lives of their children and husbands depended on 
the effort they were willing to make, and a splendid 
effort it was. In days to come one of the Russian 
artists in their midst will paint a picture which will 
be a source of pride to the descendants of these wo- 
men who shouldered this burden with the same 
steadfast courage with which they have borne many 
others. (See picture, page 216.) 

" The fact that there are so many more women 
than men must be borne in mind, as it will explain 
how willing these women of the Doukhobors are to 
lessen the burden that as a matter of necessity the 
men are called upon to bear." 

Indeed, the part which the women play in the in- 
dustrial life of the community is very important, 
apart from the exceptional duties which have de- 
volved upon them in these troublous times of pion- 
eering. The household management falls to them, as 
it does to their sisters everywhere; but amongst the 
Doukhobors this includes a whole department which 
has grown obsolete in American homes. They are 
sp Mners, weavers, dyer s, embroiderers, tailoresses, 
and even milliners, so far as" the art" is'pracHceain 
their communiiies. Their work in the making and 
decorating of house, table and ceremonial linen is of- 



THE DOtJKHOBOKS AS HOMEMAKERS. 103 

ten exquisitely fine, and is the wonder and delight of 
all observant visitors. One of these who visited Ter- 
penie (Saskatchewan) a few months before me thus 
expresses himself: 

'^ During the meal I had admired the beautiful 
decorative work done by the needle on the garments 
of the daughter-in-law, and at its conclusion the wo- 
men of the house displayed specimens of their weav- 
ing, dyeing and embroidery. The articles they exhib- 
ited were both useful and ornamental in character. 
Some of the weaving was particularly fine, the tex- 
ture of some of the table linen being equal to that 
produced by the best looms of Belfast. Nearly all 
the linen was woven with a simple check or diaper 
pattern in red at the side and ends, and much taste 
and skill were shown in the arrangement of these. 
The dark wool en cloth, of which the women's skirts 
were made, much resembled Irish frieze. The 
clothes of the men were made of similar material, 
but generally lighter in color. Some of the kerchiefs 
worn by the women were beautifully embroidered 
in fine wools, work being as well executed as the most 
captious critic of art needlework could desire, the de- 
sign being usually regular or geometric, and almost 
ecclesiastic in simplicity and harmony. The knit- 
ting shown me by the daughter-in-law was as fine 
as that of the famous Shetland shawls, and of the 
same gossamery quality. The staple colors for the 
woven fabrics seemed to be browns, fawns and grays, 
but in knitted work, and in the more decorative por- 



104 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

tions of the goods intended for personal wear, bril- 
liant coloring is general. Tlie dyeing, the spinning 
, and the^:weaving are all done by tlie (Tommunilj. i'lie" 
%/ y arh^is spuflnDn: t he^ old-TasKi^SeS^^ffi^Sim^ the 
dyei ng, aniline dy es are coming into general use, and 
I saw the communal loom, in sections, for it was not 
yet put togetfiS^andKad uol betiu used ^ince the vil- 
lage was founded. It was a primitive wooden ar- 
rangement, that would look curiously archaic beside 
the modern mechanical marvels that fabricate the 
textiles in general use, but its effectiveness when op- 
erated skilfully was beyond question." 

It would be tedious to enumerate the ways in 
which the women of the communities have stepped 
beyond the ordinary bounds of household duties to 
help the settlements through their troublous in- 
fancy. One seemingly insignificant source of reve- 
nue, the sale of medicinal roots, which they dig from 
the prairie sod, has been so industriously pursued 
by them that it has brought many thousands of dol- 
lars into the communal treasuries. Then it must not 
be forgotten that in many families there are no men 
at all to help bear the burdens. '^ Siberia swallows 
u p the fl ower of the Poukhoborjnanhood." Even in 
the following summer the visitors from Philadelphia 
Yearly Meeting, — Joseph S. Elkinton and Jonathan 
E. Rhoads, — found women engaged in the roughest 
tasks of the field and doing the work of both men and 
horses. 



THE DOUKHOBORS AS HOMEMAKERS. 105 

" The women were digging out sand and loading 
it upon a wagon for building purposes, and they used 
their shovels dexterously. The wagon thus filled 
was drawn by eighteen women — six abreast, three on 
either side of sticks or cross pieces, connected with 
the wagon by a chain. The movement of the load, 
with a woman on top of it, indicated much muscular 
strength, accompanied with concert and grace of 
action. Sorses we re scarce, and the men being em- 
ploved in working on the railroad, were the reasons 
the women were thus engaged. Twenty women, ten 
abreast, holding up new rakes and pitchforks as they 
came in from the field, was a pretty sight here, as 
elsewhere." 

Bravely as the diflSculties of that terrible first 
winter were met and overcome, they left sad re- 
minders behind them. Tb^^Pl iijadelphia Friends 
found a great deal of sickness almost everywhere. 
Much of it was due to exposure to the bitter weather, 
and much more to overcrowding and living in ill- 
ventilated rooms; while the Doukhobors who had so- 
journed in Cyprus had brought many cases of fever 
away with them. Scurv y was widespread and was 
" spoken of in this community as indicating a short- 
age of f ood last wint er."_.Xbere. were no physicians 
and no medicines in most of the communities, and in 
one case a wagon-load of four women was met, three 
of whom were ill, and were being driven to Yorkton, 
fifty miles distant, to secure medical attention. To 
one who has had experience of these prairie trails the 



106 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

thought of the ride of those poor sick women must 
cause an involuntary shudder. 

But not to dwell too long on this side of the story, 
it may be said that the visitor of the past summer 
(19022 has found things in a very different condition. 
They are still isolated, and especially in case of sick- 
ness or sudden need of any kind their isolation is a 
great hardship, but their thrift and perseverance 
have begun to bear rich fruit, and they have already 
made great steps toward conquering their circum- 
stances. Perhaps it was because the main motive for 
my visit was educational rather than material relief, 
but I find that my impression of their needs related 
mainly to their mental shortcomings. Few cases of 
jserjous sufferin g from lack of food , clothing or shel- 
ter came to my attention. Good harvests, fuirgranaT- 
_^£ies^ nourishing gardens, were, not universal/ mir 
quite frequently met 'mt^." TMTaiiyngDIfnMt^^ had 
the latest improved farm machinery, and farm live 
stock was often found in the pink of condition. The 
anonymous writer who visited their settlements but 
a few months before me gives quite a rosy account 
of their material welfare, and while it was taken 
from one of their more progressive settlements, it 
agrees with my own observation respecting the situ- 
ation in these : 

" In Ter peni e t here w ere between one hundred 
and sixty and one hundred and seventy inhabitants, 
fprty-seven families in all. Between_them they had 
j^^tyliofses^'a Ij^^red and thirty cattle, and forty ~ 



THE DOUKHOBORS AS HOMEMAKERS. 107 

sheep. In the village oj ^ Hierolofka^ en^ miles away, 
TE^ ^^we re -^yq hundred cattle and a hundred horses. 
Last fall the Terpenie people naarpToweowitn nm< 
ox or horse teams, in three weeks, three hundred and 
twenty-five acres of land, and, with the amount of 
breaking done, they would have this year a thousand 
acres under cultivation. JTheir prin cipal crop would 
be ^heat^ buj^much barley and flax would be grown. 
Last year the crop s weregood, he said, but they had 
sold none of the grain yet. The present price was 
too low. They"wwn3^ait7"^^^ said, until they got a 
railroad, and then they could get a better price for 
their grain. They did not know when they would 
get the road built, but they believed Mr. Sifton 
would see that they had proper shipping facilities. 
They had ten gris t mills, operated by waterpower a t 
Terpenie and Hierolofka. io geF'the necessary 
water supply, the Terpenie people had built a canal 
two miles lon g- ^all of it by the spad e, and all of it 
done by the women of the village while the~men were 
working in the fields or on the railroad. It was com- 
pleted last fall, and would be in operation this spring. 
Th^^stones used were those formerly in the old Hud- 
son^sBay fort at Prince Albert, and were t^medT *" 
nearly a hundred miles . The flour is. of _ cou rse^ 
groundj forthright,' and would make the same dark 
^ead in general use among Ihe Doukhobofs.^^^ "'^ 

" The re sidents of Terpenie have'forty-^v en 
homesteads. This year t he , Hierolofka people will 
have four thousand acres cropped. A s an instance 




108 THE DOUKHOBOES IN CANADA. 

of the extensive nature of their farming operations, 
thej purchased last year forty binders, seventy 
mowers, and a hundred and twenty plows. Nearly 
all this was bought on credit, and no better comment 
on their commercial reliability need be adduced than 
the fact that on January 1st of this year, though 
hardly a bushel of grain had been sold, less than fif- 
teen per cent, was unpaid, and this is regarded as 
being as good as the bank. They make use of every- 
thing — like Autolycus, they are ' snappers up of un- 
considered trifles,' picking up nails, old horseshoes, or 
such things, and carrying them home and putting 
them to use. They buy only absolute necessities, 
having learned in the hard school of Muscovite 
tyranny that economy is wealth. At the towns in 
which they deal, the merchants are anxious that more 
of the same class of settlers should come into the 
country. They say that much opposition was at first 
manifested at the Doukhobor immigration, but that 
those who know them best have nothing but praise 
for them, either as farmers or citizens. In a very 
few years the Doukhobors will be in an enviable 
financial position, in fact wealthy. The j_a^re peace- 
able, law-abiding, industrious and thrifty, are anxious 
tQ_ learn ^^Englis h speech an3'^3^irouT oF ^fono^^jg^*^ 
Canadian customs." 



T miae\nm»^Ktit^^K/ui^^i0mamtifm 



This same writer pays a tribute to their -politeness 
of speech, demeanor and action which is typical. E^o 
observer that I know of has failed to bear substan- 
tially the same testimony: 



THE DOUKHOBORS AS HOMEMAKERS. 109 

" We met a party of Rve Doukhobors — grave, de- 
liberate men, large of stature, slow of speech, with 
an unaffected, natural courtesy both simple and dig- 
nified. We reined up that my companion might 
speak to them, and one of them, with whom he was 
acquainted, introduced us to the other four. Each, 
as his name was mentioned, lifted his heavy black fur ? 
cap and bowed. They told us the village was half a 
mile from the top of the ravine. They lifted their 
hats again and bowed as we drove on. ^ Talk about 
French politeness,' said my companion, ^ it's not in it 
with the courtesy of these people. They raise their 
hats whenever they meet each other, and differ from 
Frenchmen in that they are quite as polite to their 
own people as they are to strangers. Fve traveled a 
great deal, and I never saw such genuine simplicity 
and courtesy. Wait till you get to the village, and 
you'll see that all I've said is true.' " 

In conclusion, we may fitly quote the testimony of 
IsTellie Baker, whose educational work among them 
has been already mentioned. She says: 

" The dignifigd courtesy and hospitality extend ed 
to us in more than a score of their villages, the manly 
bearing of the men, the delightful sympathy and af- 
fection vdth which they regard everything connected 
with their homes, — an estimation of the home that 
has little to learn from, and possibly something to 
teach to, even Anglo-Saxons — their dwellings, that 
already surpass in comfort and cleanliness those of 
anv other class of settlers excepting those from older 



110 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

Canada and Great Britain, all testify to the desira- 
bility of the Doukhobors as settlers, who will, I be- 
lieve, soon make good Canadian citizens. It does not 
require very keen perception on the part of one 
having had a welcome into hundreds of their homes 
to be assured that this is^g. community living ^_^Q 
high moral standards and holding tenac iously to the 
simplejenets of Christian f aith.^' 



CHAPTER IV. 

EELATIONS WITH THE CIVIL AUTHOKITIES. 

"No phase of the Doukhobor problem has done more 
to perplex the government which extended them hos- 
pitality, and to embarrass their friends and well- 
wishers, than the attitude which the Doukhobors 
have maintained toward the civil government. This 
has in many cases amounted to a complete denial of 
the authority and righteousness of any governmental 
control over the individual, and a persistent distrust 
of the kindest and most well-intentioned efforts of 
the Canadian government to help them. 

When I called the representatives of forty vil- 
lages, composing the Yorkton and Swan River colo- 
nies, together at ^goterpeyshe, it was for the purpose 
of explaining the position which the Canadian gov- 
ernment took in the registering of homesteads, mar- 
riages and births, and I was impressed with the in- 
ability of these men to comprehend that purpose, or 
rather to free their minds from the suspicion that 
any compliance with the governmental regulations 
might involve some ulterior and unpleasant obliga- 
tion — conflicting with what they understood to be 
" the law of God." When the patriarch, Ivan M a- 
Jhortov , quoted th e Russian proverb, " A gea red hare 
isjf raid of every stump,'' just as we entered upon a 
discussion as to the wisdom of the homestead law, I 
felt distinctly, and told the delegates, that this was a 



112 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

most critical juncture in their history. They ac- 
knowledged the truth of this, but they could not 
agree among themselves that it was necessary to ap- 
ply in severalty for their homesteads, even though 
the CajBadj^^ government would permit them to hold 
their farms in common after the entry had been" 
made; and as to registering marriages and births, 
they thought it need, be no concern of the govern- 
ment^ to know who^was married or born. 

There is one central feature of their communal 



Iv jT 



i 



j^^e tha t we shall do well to consider carefully, — a 
feature which helps us to realize how far back their 
present community instinct goes, all unknown to 
themselves. Fo^- generations a nd centu ries the 
£^ peasant institution of the Mir has existed, and one 
*^4i cannot but see how advantageous it has been under 
f; the conditions which surrounded the average peasant 
^L in Russia. Indeed, except for the mutual support 

^"""**<^ they were enabled to give one another by their com- 
munal system, it would scarcely have been possible 
for them to survive all the persecutions to which they 
^ were subjected. So all who would help them should 

K appreciate the hold this brotherhood idea has upon 

W I them, and not press them unduly to break away pre- 
^ j matu rely from their communal customs. It was 
S^ I noticeable that in those villages where all was held in 
I com mon, as at Pgterpevshe, for instance, the comfort 
and harmony apparent were greater than in some 
other villages where the^ indi vidualistic system had 
been adopted. 



4^ 



RELATIONS WITH GOVEENMENT. 113 

While we believe the Canadian government affords 
every opportunity to its settlers to prosper under its 
homestead laws, yet no great harm could result from 
granting to the Doukhobors the privilege of possess- 
ing their lands in common; and this has practically 
been granted to them until such time as they can see 
the benefit of applying for it in severalty. It is not 
to be wondered at that they should dread to divide 
up their allotments when fully one-third of the 
peasants in Middle Russia have been brought to utter 
ruin by such division, and excessive taxation after 
total failures of crops. 

_ ^Kropotkin says: " For the last twenty years a 
strong wind_of^o pposition to the individual appropria- 
tion of the land has been stirring again through the 
middle Russian villages, a nd str e nuou s efforts are 
being^mad e by the bulk of thos e peasants who stanc 
between the rich and the very poor to uphold the' 
village community. ^' He further adds, after a care- 
ful study of an immense mass of material collected 
during the colossal house-to-house inquest conducted 
recently by several zemstvos (county councils), em- 
bracing a population of twenty millions in different 
parts of Russia, that " wherever the Russian peas- 
ants, owing to a concurrence of favorable circum- 
stances, are less miserable than they are on the aver- 
age, and wherever they find men of knowledge and 
initiative among their neighbors, the village com- 
munity becomes the very means for introducing 
various improvements in agriculture and village life. 



114 



THE DOUKHOBORS IN" CANADA. 




Here, as elsewhe re, mutual aid is a better leader to 
progress than the war of each against all, as may be 
seen from the following facts. In South Russia the 
use of perfected ploughs rapidly spread. A village 
community, after purchasing a plough, experimented 
upon a portion of the ^gommunal l and, and indicated 
the necessary improvements to the maimers, whom 
the communes often aided in starting the manufac- 
ture of cheap ploughs as a village industry. In the 
district of Moscow, where fifteen hundred and sixty 
ploughs were lately bought by the peasants during 
five years, the impulse came from those communes 
which rented lands as a body for the special purpose 
of improved culture." 

While passing through the Dgukhobor vi l lages one 
could readily observe the latest and best reaping 
andd?iher agriciflturai topljemeate^rrtB^sFTilla . 

where the commo n purse was available for their 

purchase. 

I nrthe Third month, 1901, a statement was issued 
by a number of Doukhobors claiming to act as dele- 
gates from and as representing '^ the So ciety of the 
-Universal Brotherhood, in Canada." IJnderneath 
the names of the delegates appears the further sig- 
nature : " Address for letters, A. Bodyansky, York- 
ton, Assa., Canada." The statement rehearses at 
some length the questions at issue between the Cana- 
dian government and the Doukhobors (or a certain 
party among them), beginning with the petition pre- 



RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 115 

sented Sixth month 22d, 1900, which was in sub- 
stance as follows: 

" Petition to the Canadian government from the 
delegates of the Socieiy of Universal Brother- 
ho'o^Tneaf' YulklOli, Abba.. ■ •^""^'^ ' 



" Before everything else, we must extend to you, 
from the communities which delegated us, their sin- 
cere and heartfelt thanks for opening the country 
which is governed by you to us, for your endeavors 
to help us to settle and for your interest in our wel- 
fare. We feel and express to you our great grati- 
tude. But now, after becoming acquainted with the 
laws of your country, we are obliged to make another 
request, t hat you take into consider ation our beliefs^ 
which we consider to be the laws of Q^d, and graTit 
us the possibility to settle and live in your country 
without breaking those laws. You doubtless under- 
stand that we cannot break these laws, as we believe 
them to embody the Triath of God, but we have 
found out that you have in force laws the fulfillment 
of which will be a direct breaking of such Truth. 
Enumerating below what points in your laws do not 
correspond with our understandiag o f the Divine 
Truth, w e ask you not to enforce against us such of 
your laws as contradict our beliefs, and thus give us 
the possibility of living in your country without 
breaking, openly or tacitly, directly or indirectly, our 
conception of the Truth. 

" (1) The laws of your country require that every 



116 THE DOUKHOBOES IN CANADA. 

male emigrant 18 years of age, who wants to settle on 
vacant government land, has to record it in his name, 
and, after a certain term, such land becomes his prop- 
erty. But we cannot accept such a law, cannot record 
homesteads m our individual names, cannot make 
the^n our^^ivate prop erty, f or we jbe liev e that in so 
dm'T|gy w e would break directly "TxOd"'s Truth. Who 
knows this j[|3jth knows^^lso that it opposes the 
^acquisition of property. But if, through human 
weakness, a man m^y be'Tbrgiven for considering as 
his own anything which he has acquired by his labor, 
and which is necessary for his daily use, like cloth- 
ing, food, or household goods and utensils, there is 
no excuse for a man who, knowing the law of God, 
stilt^^propriates as his own something that is not the 




and the recording of land the main cause of wars and 



4 trife am ong^men, and is it not the cause of there 
being masters and serfs ? _The law of God commands 
.men to live like brothers, with out di visions, but in 
union for mutual help : but if a man cuts out and ap- 



propriates land for himself, — land which he did not 
work to create, — how is he going to divide with 
others the results of his own labor? And as every 
bxeakme: of Divine Truth brings evil, go did evil creep 
among us when we thoughtlessly accepted land under 
your homestead laws. Already jthe div ision of land 
between our various settlements has caused quarrels* 
about that land among us, quarrels unknown to us 



RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 117 

heretofore. And what will be the result if each one 
of us becomes the owner of a separate piece, and the 
land under our settlements becomes private prop- 
erty ? It will prove a great temptation to the strong, 
and fatal to the weak. Taking all the above into 
consideration, we petition you to let us have the land 
for settlement and agricultural purposes, not upon 
your general conditions for emigrants, but upon the 
conditions given to your Indians — that is, the land 
to be held by the community, and not by individuaT*" 
members. It matters not to us whether that land 
be considered our community property, or the prop- 
erty of your country; but we would like it to be con- 
sidered as given to us for an indefinite period of 
time, and if you wish us to pay rent we are willing to 
do so, provided we shall be able. 

" (2) You have also a law in your country that 
everybody who wants to contract marriage, in order 
to make it legal, shall obtain a license, and pay two 
dollars for the same; and that a divorce can be ob- 
tained only in the courts; and if a person should re- 
marry without a divorce so obtained he is liable to 
imprisonment for many years. 

'' We cannot accept such a law, for we b elieve 
that it also breaks the law of God. We cannot be- 
lieve that a marriage can become legal because it is 
recorded in a police register and a fee of two dollars 
paid for it; on the contrary, we believe that such re- 
cording and payment annuls marriage and breaks up 
its real legality. We believe that the real legaliza- 



118 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 



tionofamarriage union is when it is brought about 
f reely as a result of a pure feeling, of a mutual moral 
affexifea^. between man and woman. Only such a 
pure f eeling of love, born of the mutual recognition 
of moral traits of character, creates a real legality of 
a marriage according to the law of God, — ^not a 
record of the same in a police register and a money 
fee. Every marriage which has its source in this 
lau re feeli ng of mutual love will be legal before God, 
although it wer e not registered, and other people 
would not recognize its legality; anci every marriage 
not the result of free will and pure love, but con- 
\^ tracted unwillingly, or for lust, or money, or any 
other consideration, will be always illegal before 
God, although it should be registered in all the 
police records and considered legal by everybody. 
Therefore w e believe that legalization of t he mar-^ 
riage bond belongs solely to God; and we cannot con- 
^s ent to transfer the legaIiza'fcioh"or"^liF"'maf n^es 
from God to the police. As to divorce, we believe 
tEat every man who has divorced his wife is an adul- 
terer, and forces her to become an adulteress; and 
that every remarriage, or marrying a divorced man 
or woman, i^also adultery. But we believe also that 
the law of God is the law of freedom, that an open 
sin is lighter than a secret one, and that if a mar- 
riage union is contracted otherwise than through a 
pure feeling of love, such _a jani^n is ill egal from its 
beginning, and constitutes t ^, sin of adul tery j^ and 
that therefore when persons living in such an '"illegal 



RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 119 

■union come to such a conclusion, and conceive the im- 
possibility of making such a union legal, out of two 
evils the lesser for them will be to divorce and to 
separate. Afidin such a case a divorce may become 
ie ^al^ if the heavenly Father will forgive the sin of \ 
t he divorced parties, and so allow them to remarry 
with free consciences. Xs the forgiveness of God 
can be known only to the two people concerned, no 
one, nor any human institution, can make a divorce 
either legal or illegal, for they cannot be competent 
to know whether God forgave the sin of divorce or 
not. That can be known only to the consciences of 
the divorced themselves. 

" In consideration of the above, we cannot recog- 
nize as correct, and cannot accept any human laws as 
to the marriage union, being sure that all pertaining 
to it is in the province of God's will and human con- 
science. 

" (3) There is another law in your country, which 
requires that _e very inhabitant shall^^ive notice Jo^ 
the police of every birth and death in his family. 

" Wj9 cannot accept that law^ f or we see no need 
of it in the order of things prescribed by Gro4i«^^?:^ 
heavenly Father knows, without a police register, 
whom He sends }rfto the world and whom He calls„ 

f' l Ml— I.I i<{— — ■.■■III i« n i -■ - i n i T — " '-'-■- — -' ■•■ ,.,——.———> 

, back,,. O nly the will of God is important to human- 
ity, for upon it depends our life and death, and Tint. 
ujaoiLJLjiQlig^ registe r. A man will live until he is 



called^ by his Creator, although he should not be re- 



120 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

corded in a police register, and can die immediately 
after having been registered as living. 

" We do not refuse to answer, if called upon, 
about the number of births and deaths in our com- 
munities. If anybody wants to know it, let him ask; 
but we will not, of ourselves, report it to any one. 

" Having explained what in the laws of your coun- 
try is irreconcilable with what we consider the Di- 
vine Truth, and which we cannot break, we once 
more petition the government of Canada to grant us 
exceptions concerning the use of lands, legality of 
marriage unions, and registration, in order that we 
may live in Canada without breaking the Divine 
Truth as we understand it." 



To this petition no formal reply was made by the 
government officials until nearly six months had 
elapsed, but quiet measures were taken to have the 
known friends and benefactors of the Doukhobors 
attempt to dissuade them from their refractory and 
dangerous course. Aylmer Maude, who had taken a 
prominent part in the direction of the exodus from 
Russia, wrote a letter, which was widely circulated 
by government agents in the Doukhobor settlements, 
pointing out the weakness and the necessary futility 
of the petition. A committee of Philadelphia 
Yearly Meeting also drafted and forwarded to the 
villages the following communication: 



KELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 121 

TO THE CHRISTIANS OF THE UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 

IN CANADA. 

" The Eriends of Philadelphia Send Greeting. 

" From the time your trials through persecution 
became known to us our hearts have gone out to you, 
and our minds have been affected by the griefs you 
were made to bear. 

" We still greatly desire your welfare, both in the 
things which increase your comfort in this world, and 
in that spiritual knowledge and holy obedience to the 
laws of God which come to us through faith in Him; 
and in the possession and practice of which we are 
saved with an everlasting salvation through Jesus 
Christ. 

" We desire to be closely united with you in seek- 
ing after this hope of eternal life which our Father 
in heaven has revealed to the children of men by the 
sending of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world. He 
is indeed our King and Law-giver, and it is He whom 
we must obey, as He makes known to us His holy 
will. This we believe He does, both by the Light of 
His Holy Spirit in the secret of our hearts, and by 
the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, which holy 
men of old wrote as they were moved by the spirit of 
truth. 

" Ancient Israel acknowledged God to be their 
ruler and guide, but at the same time were given 
written laws to regulate their actions and dealings, 
which were administered by men who were appointed 



122 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

for this purpose; and to these good laws and human 
rulers the people submitted themselves. 

" After the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into 
the world, His apostles enjoined obedience to out- 
ward rulers, as being those who in the providence of 
God are set over the nations and peoples to preserve 
order amongst them. 

" The Apostle Paul wrote, * These are God^s min- 
isters attending to these very things ' ; and again, 
' Rulers are His ministers to us for good, and to them 
we must be obedient, not only for wrath, but also for 
conscience' sake.' He commands that we should 
pray for kings and for all who are in authority, that 
we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godli- 
ness and honesty. Now, we are aware you have lived 
under a government which has required you to do 
some things which are directly contrary to the laws 
of Christ,— Jo^fighjLand^^roy men's Hves, and t o 
offer to God a worship which is not in spirit and in 
truth. These are matters in which the rule of Christ, 
as it is plainly laid down in His teaching, is denied 
and set at naught. A sj ^^ ^^^^ matters Christians 
ought to obey Ilim rather than men. 

" There are, however, many laws enacted by men 



wlach contribut e to peace and good order among 
them, by securing to all theiFjust rights and privi- 
leges, and give to every one an opportunity to seek 
his own welfare without at the same time depriving 
others of the like opportunity. 

" Among these laws which we approve as being 



BELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 



125 



a gr^able to the Divine la w is, the holdin g of land in 
individual ownership, by which the legal occupant 
may i mprqy j ^^. cultivate and use it. for his own main- 
tenance and for the general advantage of the com- 
munity in which he lives. 

" It is easily perceived that such laws help to pre- 
serve the peace, by preventing unjust and covetous 
persons appropriating to themselves the fruits of the 
labor of those who are industrious and quiet in their 
lives. 

" There ar e persons in almost all countries who 
disregard justice and honest y, and it is to restrain 
and correct these that laws are made: as the Apostle 
Paul has written, ' t he law is not mad e for a right- 
eous man^ J)ut for the lawless an d disobedient, foF 
t|>e ungodly and for sinners .' Righteous people in- 
tend to live holy and innocent lives, but are willing 
to be put to whatever inconvenience may come to 
them in complying with laws made for the general 
good, in order to give the influence of their example 
in favor of good government, that it may not be 
weakened in its dealings with those who practice in- 
justice and crime. 

^^ ^hile we speak of own ership in land and other 
property, as Christians we know that ourselves"^nd 



o - 



all that we pos sess belong to G od, and that we are 
only stewards to use that which has been honestly ac- 
quired for His glory and for the good of our neigh- 
bors who need help. Therefore, in this sense none 
of us can say that what he possesses is his own; but 




124 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

as a steward to whom has been entrusted a charge 
he should manage and use it for the benefit of his 
fellow-creatures as well as for himseK. We will re- 
member and observe the golden rule, ^ Whatsoever 
ye desire that men should do to you do ye likewise 
even so to them.' 

" In the covenant of marriage our Saviour has laid 
down a rule which his followers are bound to observe. 
It is this ; ^v Whom God has joined together let not 
jnaan put asunder / * Whosoever puts away his wife 
saving for the cause of fornication, and marries an- 
other, commits adultery; and he that marries her 
when she is put away commits adultery.' 

le duty of hum an government to prevent 
vifift ^i^j ^'Tmnorality inthis m atter, and 16 Hiakufeg- 
ulations by which children should be cared for by 
their parents, which would not be the case if parents 
loosely lived together, and separated when they are 
tempted to cohabit with another person. 

" Much scandal and reproach would result to the 
Christian name if those who claim it adopt a practice 
sometimes called free love ; or allow a man to have at 
the same time more than one wife, or a woman more 
than one husband. Death of a wife or husband can 
alone dissolve the marriage tie; after which the sur- 
vivor is free to marry again, if done in the liberty of 
the spirit. 

" The laws of Christian nations rightly forbid such 
libertine practices, and the laws of Canada requiring 
the registration of marriages are designed to pre- 



RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 125 

vent bigamy by making it plain who are joined in 
marriage, while the registration of births shows who 
are the children of married parents, and who are re- 
sponsible for their care. 

" We thus address you, our Christian bro t hers, in 
the desire to help you to accept the experience of 
many who are and have been the faithful servants! 
of God, and yet have, in these things to which we 
herein refer, been able with a good conscience in the 
sight of their Maker and Saviour to be governed by 
the laws of the countries in which they live. Among 
the members of our (Friends) Society we have 
known no instance of any one refusing to comply 
with the laws of their country regarding the registry 
of land titles, marriages, births, and deaths ; although 
many of them have suffered muqh for their^conscien- 
tio us objectioaSrjo w ar, oaths, tithes to the clergy, 
and other matters relating to religion. 

" While human government is so often enforced 
by the use of deadly weapons and the punishment of 
death, and in those respects is opposed to the law 
of love and mercy enjoined by the teaching and spirit 
of Jesus Christ, yet Christians have safe precepts 
and examples for submitting to and actively comply- 
ing with those requirements which are intended to 
promote the general welfare of a nation, without in- 
volving any acts which are injurious to their fellow- 
men, or are contrary to the worship and service due 
to Almighty God, whose we are and whom we wish 
to glorify. 



126 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

" We therefore would persuade you to humbly 
look up to Him, and ask that He will give you light 
and grace to see and believe that He will justify you 
in complying with the laws of Canada which are now 
referred to, and enable you to enjoy witE^^lBankful 
liearts the fruits of His goodness, in making a way 
for settlement in a country where peace and liberty 
of conscience are so largely found. 

" We heve been instructed and encouraged by 
jour faithfulness to religious convi ctions, in refusing 
tojake any part in preparation for war, and by learn- 
ing of the dreadful persecution you suffered for the 
possession of a good conscience. Our desire now is 
that we may be closely united together in the bonds 
of Christian love and fellowship, and that we may 
continue to be helpers of each other towards the 
ieavenly kingdom. 

^' Jos. S. Elkinton. 

" George M. Comfort. 

" Ephraim Smith. 

" Jonathan E. Rhoads. 

" Samuel Morris. 

" William L. Bailey. 

" William Evans." 

The extreme solicitude expressed in this communi- 
-cation for the maintenance of pure morals among 
the Doukhobors shows very forcibly the alarm which 
the incident created. Even the best friends of the 
Brotherhood, not without reason, took the argument 



RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 127 

against tlie licensing and registration of marriages to 
be a plea for loose family relations. Fortunately, it 
has been shown beyond a doubt that such laxity is 
almost utterly unknown amongst the Doukhobors, 
and the sinister meaning which it was feared lay in 
this demand is seen to be nothing worse than per- 
versity or infirmity of mind and temper. It is against 
this perversity, obstinacy and density that the fur- 
ther efforts of the Dominion government and other 
friends of the Doukhobors have been directed. In 
First mo nth_j , 1901, th e following reply to the peti- 
tion of the Doukhobors was sent from the Canadian 
Department of the Interior: 

" Ottawa, 7th January, 1901. 

^' Semen Semenov, Vassili Popov and others, village 
Blagodarofra. 
"Dear Sirs: — ^In further reference to your peti- 
tion to the government of Canada, of the 22d of 
June last, I beg to say, that since my interview with 
your head men in the month of ^November, I have 
discussed the subject-matter of the said petition with 
the authorities here, and in reply can only state what 
has already been written you, namely, that in refer- 
ence to the question of taking up land it can only be 
done in the ordinary way. We have only one system 
of granting free homesteads to settlers, and the same 
rules apply to every settler coming into the province 
of Manitoba or the lN"orthwest Territories, irrespec- 



128 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

tive of his nationality or religious belief. These 
rules and regulations are the result of many years' 
experience, and have been found to be the best, both 
in the interests of the settler and of the country in 
general. 

" I might point out to you that it would be impos- 
sible for the government to retain lands for your peo- 
ple unless they have entered each man for his own 
homestead, as the lands would appear vacant in our 
books, and other parties would go and settle on them 
and apply for entry, and we would have no grounds 
for refusing to grant the same. 

" I might further say, however, that after your 
individual settlers have completed their homestead 
duties a patent will issue to each homesteader, giv- 
ing him the full and absolute ownership of the land, 
after which it is his own to dispose of as he thinks 
best, and if your people should then decide to appoint 
trustees to hold the land in common for the use and 
benefit of all the people, that is a matter about which 
you can do as they wish, and one in which the gov- 
ernment will not interfere in any way. You will 
notice that all your own friends (both Mr. Maude 
and the Quaker Society of England) take exactly the 
same view which we do on this question, and I there- 
fore trust that you will at once set about having your 
entries made for this land. 

" As before stated, if it is not convenient for your 
people to pay an entry fee at the present time, the 
entry may still be made, and we will charge the entry 



EELATIONS WITH GOVEENMENT. 129 

fee as a lien against the land, to be paid off with in- 
terest at six per cent, per annum before the patent 
can issue. 

" The government is quite willing that your peo- 
ple should reside in villages, the cultivation of course 
to be done on the individual homesteads. 

" In reference to that portion of your petition 
concerning the giving of information for the prepa- 
ration of vital statistics, relating to births, deaths 
and marriages, I might say that this matter comes 
under the jurisdiction of the local government at 
Regina. There is, however, no possibility that your 
wishes in this matter can be met. On this subject 
there is one law for all the people of Canada, from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and it applies to every- 
one, and the question of making any changes in re- 
spect to the Doukhobors will not be considered for 
a moment. A complete public record must be kept 
of every person married, with names and dates, and 
of every child born, and of every person who dies. 
This is the usual system, as you are aware, and has 
never been objected to by anybody, and good, law- 
abiding people have no reason to fear compliance 
with this part of the Canadian law. 

" In conclusion, I may state that the people of 
Canada were pleased to have you come to their coun- 
try. They are prepared to treat you liberally and 
well; to put you on an exact equality with them- 
selves; to give you the benefit and protection of their 
laws; but, as I stated to you at our interview, no spe- 



130 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

cial laws will be made for your people, nor will they 
be treated in a different manner from any other class 
of settlers in the country, or who may come into the 
country. 

" As^Boon as you have been three years in Canada 
^u maiy become lull citizens, and h^e the same 
voice in the making oi our lawias we have our- 
selves. 

" On this point there will be no object in continu- 
ing the discussion, as the laws of the country must 
prevail absolutely, and you will find as you become 
better acquainted with the laws of Canada that it is 
only the wicked and vicious who have any reason to 
fear them. Therefore I trust that in all these mat- 
ters you will see that it is to your own interest to 
give a ready and cheerful compliance to our laws, in 
accordance with the advice of your own friends. 

" Yours truly, 

"J. G. SURRIFF, 

" Commissioner Dominion Lands." 

To this letter, as to that of Ayl mer Maude, the 
committee of delegates made reply, adkering" to the 
ground taken in the original petition, and repeating 
their previous arguments, with very little sign of 
comprehension of the case against them, or of the 
admirable patience and restraint shown by the 
authorities. In fact, they went a step beyond their 
previous position to make direct charges of falsehood 



RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 131 

and bad faith against their friends because these did 
not approve the petition. 

Here, substantially, the case has stood ever since, 
and still stands. The Dominion authorities have 
naturally been unwilling to proceed to harsh meas- 
ures to enforce their authority, and the matter has 
largely been allowed to drift, in the hope that the 
logic of events would finally penetrate the reasoning 
faculties of the recalcitrants. In this hope they have 
been partially justified. In certain localities, and 
under the influence of certain persons, much progress 
has been made, — homesteads h ave been duly en- 
tered, the registration laws have been complied with, 
and whole settlements have made substantial prog- 
ress in enlightenment. On the other hand, many 
localities have made no sensible progress whatever, 
and new vagaries, such as the Pilgrimage described 
in a preceding chapter, have arisen to vex the 
officials. 

Th e T^9^0tPj \t arrival of Petgr^e rigjn in Canada, 
after his release from his long exile in Russia, may 
prove the needed solvent to this vexed situation. 
According to thg Manitob a_Free P ress, 9f Winni- 
peg, it is confidently expected that " his counsel will 
solve the Doukhobor problem, probably for all time, 
one way or the other. If he recommends the com- 
munities to enter for their lands, and in other re- 
spects obey the regulations of Canadian law, they 
will certainly loyally comply. If, on the other hand, 
he endorses the stand of agitators and ex-pilgrims, 



132 THE DOUKHOBORS IN CANADA. 

all hopes of the Doukhobors' submission may be 
abandoned. In either case the course of the govern- 
ment will be simpKfied. In the latter alternative the 
land at present occupied by the Doukhobors will 
probably be thrown open for settlement. The 
authorities hope, however, that Verigin's coming 
may lead to a complete and speedy pacification of all 
the communities." In this hope all the friends of 
the Doukhobors will fervently join. 

One of the puzzles of the situation is to know the 
real attitude of the great body of the Brotherhood 
in these matters, and the extent to which the peti- 
tion and the subsequent writings in the controversy 
represent the real sentiments of the communities. 
It will be noticed that these communications ema- 
nate from Yorkton, the least progressive of the set- 
tlements; and that the person who seems to have 
drawn up the instruments is one A. Bodyansky. 
After investigating the matter the Dominion officials 
reached the conclusion that Bodyansky was little 
better than a professional agitator ^ anl he was^^alfy"* 
forced to leave the country. It is yet too early to 
know theresuTT'oFlhis move, and there seems good 
ground for hoping that the situation has been im- 
proved thereby, but this is by no means certain. It 
seems likely that while Bodyansky was directly re- 
sponsible for fomenting much of the disturBanceT^e 
had the niatenaT ready tlTMs'ligTrd^iTrt hG ahape of 
widespread discontent and unrest. As has been 
before stated, only a v^ry Rynpll pf^ portjon of the 



RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 133 

Douk hobors can read and write, an d thej are there- 
fore necessarily dependent on some lettered person 
for the statement of their case in writing. Of course 
under such circumstances no one would expect a 
document like the petition to state accurately the 
views of the uneducated majority, but it is probable 
that it did represent, though crudely and indefinitely, 
the existing mass of discontent and unrest, the most 
prominent characteristic of which was simply an in- 
stinctive and inbred attitude of antagonism to all 
government. 

Uiireas^nable and childish as this attitude appears 
to th^ citizen of a free government, it can be" largely 
explained by the experience of the Doukhobors 
under the Russian despotism. When government is 
essentially tyranny there is small wonder if its vic- 
tims come to look on all government as unrighteous. 
Yet there is room and need, and we believe there is 
capacity, on their part, for a better understanding of 
the essential functions of all right government, and 
in particular of the enlightened and benevolent free 
government under whose care they now find them- 
selves. We appreciate how their conception of 
Christ's kingdom of peace and brotherhood cannot 
be reconciled with the militarism which is so insepa- 
rably connected with most of the governments of the 
civilized world, but there is a wide difference be- 
tween this belated method of settling disputes and 
those governmental regulations which are necessary 
for the common welfare of all citizens of a free re- 



■ —* v 



134 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

public or limited monarchy. To educate the Douk- 
hobors to a sense of these differences, and to an open- 
ness to receive and appreciate new ideas, is undoubt- 
edly the crying need of the situation. 

■6^0 honor one's conscience is a duty, but to dis- 
credit another's is far from admirable. "While we 
share the Brotherhood idea of equality in all spir- 
itual privileges, we think those privileges ought to be 
conceded to mankind at large, and not so interpreted 
as to mean that we are the only people who have the 
oracles of God. 

The liberty to follow the dictates of their con- 
science can in no wise release them from their obli- 
gation to support a government so liberal as that 
under which, in the good providence of God, they 
now live, — a government whose chief purpose is to 
secure " the blessings of life, liberty and the pur- 
suit of happiness," and one that has released them 
from any necessity to violate their conscience by 
military service. 

<L By their pe aceful but firm refusal to obey the un/- 
jOhristian demands of any law they did not believe to 
be consistentwith that of God, they have been 
driven into a false position toward all government, 
and the writings of Count Tolstoi and his followers^ 
have emphasized this disposition. The habit of 
passive submission to any punishment inflicted by 
the civil or military authorities has become so fixed 
as to continue after the original cause has been re- 
moved, and we may well remember how frequently 



RELATIONS WITH GOVEENMENT. 135 

this tendency has appeared in the religious history 
of all ages and sects ! 

As this volume was passing through the press my 
attention was directed to a consideration of these 
questions in a work by P. Birukov.'^ T he author was 
one of three Russian gentlemen who went to the 
Caucasus about the time the Doukhobors were most 
severely persecuted (1897), in order to investigate 
their troubles and report the facts to the Czar. His 
interest in suffering humanity was rewarded by being 
permanently exiled from his native land. As he 
has given much thought to their needs, I gladly give 
space to his suggestions for a solution of the present 
difficulties. 

He says: "Their [the Doukhobors'] failure to 
yield obedience is shown in many ways, from the 
ref uel to give military service, to th e refusal to un- 
cover their heads b efore the state oAicials, and even 
the Czar. 

" But such is the power of a religious idea that the 
swords of their persecutors were dulled, and the 
oppressed sect increased and their devotions spread. 

" The Doukhobors who emigrated to Canada, 
while welcoming their happy removal from a land 
of persecution to one of liberty, do not wish the gov- 
ernment of Canada to interfere with their affairs. 



* " Tolstoi et les Doukhobors," translated from the Eussian 
into the French by J. W. Bienstock, Paris, 1902. 



136 THE DOUKHOBOBS IN CANADA. 

Thej consent to pay tribute to Edward VII., as they 
did to Alexander, and to JSiicholas. i^t they arenot 
jj^ isposed to submit to the civil law.^^ * 

" Two issues can end this conflict : first, under the 
influence of their new surroundings, and, by recogni- 
tion of Canadian life, the removal of their objection 
to individualism could be brought about, and the 
Doukhobors would submit to all the demands of the 
Canadian government; secondly, if their protest 
against individualism becomes strengthened, the 
Doukhobors will submit to persecution, but never- 
theless the government of Canada will be forced to 
recognize their independence, and they will be set- 
tled in a country apart, which will be given to them. 
The government of Canada hesitates to take one or 
the other of these courses, and in putting off the 
decisive step shows its true wisdom. But all this 
affair is complicated by the interference of a foreign 
element. One of the friends of the Doukhobors who 
lived with them in the Caucasus, full of sympathy 
for their exalted Christian ideals, for which the 
Doukhobors were persecuted, left Russia and be- 
came literary interpreter of the Doukhobor protesta- 
tions against the government of Canada. 



* I found this to be the case to considerable extent in all 
their colonies, with this difference, however, between the 
Prince Albert and the Yorkton settlements, — that in the 
former the taking up of homesteads was not considered a vio- 
lation of their desire to be free from all connection with the 
government. 



RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 137 

" He gave, according to the expression of one of 
the emigrants, — an intellectual man living among 
the Doukhobors in Canada, — ' the Christian phrase- 
ology ' to the request of the Doukhobors. 

" But the motive for the protestation he raised to 
a higher Christian and anarchistical view than was 
shared in by all the Doukhobors. But as these are 
illiterate, they accept this literary expression of the 
protest more on account of confidence in the author 
than by their absolute acquaintance with its con- 
tents. To our question as to what they thought of 
the contents of the request, one of the signers 
answered : * As to that which Bodyansky has written, 
you know that we have not enough mind to under- 
stand each word, and there are certain words which 
do not suit us at all, but Bodyansky is a tenacious 
old man, and interprets always according to his own 
way.' Yet in letters of the Doukhobors who have 
signed the request is expressed the firm resolution 
not to yield to the government of Canada upon three 
points which form the object of the request : i ndi- 
vidual property-holding, civil marriage, and civil 
r egistratio n. 

" The protest against the formality of the acts of 
individual sale does not bear upon landed ^roperty 
in general, — jt i ^irected afflinst the interference of 
thjQ^state in the division of land. - 

le protest against the mierference with their 
marriage customs is not against marriage in general. 



138 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

but against the interference of the government in 
the institution of civil marriage. 

" So their protest against registration is not 
against registration in general, but against the obli- 
gation to communicate to government information 
about their interior life. 

" In addition to the written declaration of this 
kind by the Doukhobors themselves, that which con- 
firms our remarks is that the most Christian part of 
the protestations, — ^that against landed proprietaries, 
— ^is shared by only a small minority of the Doukho- 
bors; while the protest against the civil registration, 
which touches least the Christian doctrine, is shared 
in by almost all the Doukhobors of the three colo- 
nies, even by those who have not submitted to the 
intellectual influence above mentioned. 

" The situation being thus set forth, we are going 
to try to solve the very difficult question; What 
should the two adverse parties do? That is to say, 
the Doukhobors, who do not wish to submit to the 
demands of the government of Canada, and the gov- 
ernment of Canada, which does not wish to give up 
to these demands. 

" We are far from desiring to take to ourselves the 
role of master and guide in this affair, but we believe 
it our duty to explain our opinion, since the Douk- 
hobors themselves have asked counsel from us. 

*^ As to the Doukhobors, we believe above all that 
they ought to be enlightened concerning all that is 
being done around them, and this is why they ought 



EELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 139 

to cease to call their opposition * the most Christian 
act ' of the Universal Fraternity, and to simply call 
it the obligation for the Doukhobors to recognize 
their autonomy. 

" It is then in this sense that it is necessary to en- 
gage in discussion with the government of Canada,, 
since under all circumstances pecuniary relations 
will be maintained between them. The Doukhobors 
should elect among themselves representatives who 
will be charged with the necessary relations with the 
government of Canada. And as probably the gov-^ 
ernment of Canada could adapt its regulations ta 
their conscience, these same attorneys should hold. 
these registries in the most convenient way for the- 
Doukhobors to comply with the law. 

" This would not in any way prevent the Douk-^ 
hobors from continuing their advance in moral de* 
velopment and their aspirations to attain ideals of 
pure Christianity. In the same way this will not 
prevent the development among them of the princi- 
ples^of communism or of the ab olition of property in 
severaEy. 

" What should the government of Canada do ? 

liJoBfity-^iftQtinue the policy of waiting that it has 
wisely adopted, and not be in haste to take a decisive 
step; second, if iiJQ'^QSsible , do everything available 
to yield to the demands of the DoutHobors. bucn a 
policy V7ill be most advantageous for"trand~f or them^ 
considering how, during the fifty years of life of the 
Doukhobors in the Caucasus, they were the most 



140 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN CANADA. 

exact in paying taxes, and that during this period no 



one was arrested lor civil or criminal misdemeanor. 
" Since for their individualism the Doukhobors do 
not demand any right, but only the possession, with- 
out obstacles, of the land which will be assigned to 
them, it seems to us possible to satisfy their de- 
mand." 



While thus advising the policy of Christian for- 
bearance to our good neighbors of the Dominion, we 
have a word also for our dear friends, the Doukho- 
bors, who have received abundant evidence of sym- 
pathy from the present administration. 

We would ask them seriously to consider what 
Christian good will was manifested upon their arrival 
on these shores; how thoroughly welcome they were, 
and what efforts their best friends, among all de- 
nominations, made, together with the officials upon 
whom devolved so heavily the labor of settling them. 
We ask how they can possibly regard such evidences 
of disinterested kindness otherwise than as proceed- 
ing from hearts like their own, which are ever ready 
to supply the needs of the suffering ? 

We would, after having enjoyed their confidence 
and their hospitality, express the fullest appreciation 
of their conscientious convictions, but would ask in 
return that they will consider the Canadian govern- 
ment has only one purpose in its requirements, and 
that is to give all who come to live under it the great- 



RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT. 141 

est opportunity to enjoy the blessings of freedom, 
both material and religious. 

IN^othing could be more natural than a suspicion 
that some advantage is likely to be taken of us when 
for a century we have suffered from every point of 
contact with a cruel government, but why should we 
so misjudge the character and actions of one which 
has shown so much consideration for us? 



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Doukhobor Settlements in the Russian Empire. 

The Milky Waters colony was just north of Sevastopol and bordering on the 

Sea of Azov, The settlements in the Caucasus were in the three provinces of 

Tiflis, Kars, and Elizabetpol, between the Caucasian Mountains and the 

Persian frontier, as indicated by dotted lines. The Doukhobors first appeared 

in the territory between the Black Sea and the dotted line to the north of it. 



OHAPTEE I. 

BUeENT PEESECUTIONS. 



The story of tlie rise, progress and persecutions of 
the Doukhobors is a long and bitter one, running 
back into the dim light of the middle of the eigh- 



t eenth century. Those events which directly brought 
about their emigration to Canada are, however, com- 
paratively recent, and to understand these we need 
only glance at their history during the last genera- 
tion. 

A period of comparative ease and prosperity in- 
tervened between the last Turkish war, in 1877, and 
18 87, when universal conscription was introduced into 
th<e Caucasus. The strict observance of the jreligious 



practices of the Doukhobors lapsed to some extent, 
and considerable money was accumulated by their 
several communities. In some of these an Orphan 
House was established, and the presiding officer came 
to have almost unlimited influence over the brother- 
hood — ^now settled in three Governments of Transr 
caucasia, Elizavetpol, Tiflis and Kars. 

Tjieir numbers had increased to twenty thousand. 



and while they had great difficulty in raising gram 
of any kind at an elevation of -^ve thousand feet on 
the^;Wet Mount ains of Georgi a, they devoted them- 
sefces so successfully to breedi ng cattle as to become 
well-to-do in many instances. 



146 THE EXODUS FEOM RUSSIA. 

The leaders of this sect have been strong charac- 
ters since the beginning of their settlement on the 
Milky Waters, but how they are chosen is difficult to 
ascertain. Pobirohin, Kapoustin, Kalmykov, his 
wife, Loukerya Vasilyevna Jialmykova, and now 
Peter Verigin, have successively occupied this im- 
portant position during the past century. Xhese 

1. lead er s end eavored to govern wisely " under the im- 
mediate control and with the co-operation ol the 
Deity Himself, by means of inward universal inspi- 
ration and revelation from above.^ ' (Kovitsky.^ 
So that, as A. Maude says: " With all their limita- 
tions and deficiencies, with their history for nearly 
a century before us, one may fairly say of the Douk- 
hobors that (except in times of external persecution), 
without any government founded on force, they have 
managed their affairs better than their neighbors 
have done; with no army or police, they have suf- 
fered little from crimes of violence; and without 
priests or ministers, they have had m ore practical re- 
ligion, and more i ntelligible guidance for their spir- 
itual lifeT VV it houi doctors or medicine or bacteriol- 
ogists (though ignorant even of the first principles of 
ventilation), they have been, on the average, 
healthier and stronger than most other races. Witn- 
out politi cal economists, wealth among them has 
been better dist ribute d, andthey have (^ apart from 
the effects of persecution) sutfe red far leiJS ff6\ 
tre mes of w ealth and povertv7~^ WitHouTl gweyT)? 

-^ TrnttfTi In'W"! ^^^y have settled thefFfltSputes. With- 



THE KECENT PERSECUTIONS. 



147 



out books, thej have educated their children to be 
industrious, useful, peaceable and God-fearing men 
and women; have instructed them in the tenets of 
their religion, and taught them to produce the food, 
clothing and shelter needed for themselves and for 
others. 

" As a community they are to-day abstainers from 
alcoholj non-sinokers, and tor the most pan, vege- 
tarians. it would be difficuii to Und a class oi peo- 
ple equally numerous among whom there is less im- 
morality, or among whom the family bond is more 
regarded.'^ 

Communis m, which the Russian peasants gen- 
e]; ^ly. i <f a v - gj ^^ as become with the JJouimoDors a re- 
^^^us principle, in tne lace ol this we hUve the 
,same inaividualistic ambition occasionally asserting 
itself which has rent asunder other religious sects of 
similar high ideals. We would gladly pass over a 
division of this character, but the facts remain. A 
contention arose among the Doukhobors about the 
year 1886, when Peter Yerigin was banished to 
Archangel. He had been trained under Loukerya 
Vasilyevna Kalmykova for ^Ye years, with the ex- 
press intention of succeeding her as chief administra- 
tor and " Prophet " of the Doukhobors, but upon the 
death of this rather remarkable woman, quite a fac- 
tion, known as the ^ tfhnall Party^^^ insist ed upon her 
brother being recognized as the leader. Recourse 
was had to the Russian law — ^the first time for fifty 
years — and several of the " Large Party " were sent 



148 THE EXODUS FEOM RUSSIA. 

to Northeast Siberia. This was finally accomplished 
by the Small Party's bribing the Government offi- 
cials with a gift of ten thousand roubles. 

A long and detailed account of these events (in- 
troduced to the reader by a letter from Leo Tolstoi) 
appeared in The (London) Times for Tenth month 
23d, 1895. It was written by a friend of the Douk- 
hobors who had visited the Caucasus, in order to gain 
his information on the spot. From this article we 
give extracts: 

" Such obvious acts of injustice (as those described 
above) agitated the whole community; and coming 
to the conclusion that there is no justice to be had 
from Government, the Larger Party resolved to act 
independently. 

" They collected a new fund of one hundred thou- 
sand roubles, making all the private property of the 
richer members equal with that of the poorer, and 
they handed over the management of this fund to 
Peter Verigin, about whom they drew more closely 
than before." 

jA widespre ad religious awakening took place 
among them; they ceased to smoke, drmii wine and 
eat flesh ; they practised communism, and resolved no 
longer to bear arms, even in self-defense. In their 
time of laxity some of them had fallen in with the 
practice of their neighbors, not only to defend them- 
selves from brigands, but also from wild beasts. 
While this awakening was taking place, Peter Veri- 
gin and a few others of the leading men were ban- 



THE RECENT PERSECUTIONS. 149 

ished first to Archangel and then to Siberia, in con- 
sequence of the intrigues of the Smaller Party, who 
accused them of rebellion. 

During his transportation from Archangel to a re- 
mote place in Siberia in the winter of 1894-5, Veri-^ 
gin was " visited in Moscow by some of his spiritual 
brethren from the Caucasus, and they returned home 
with a proposal from him, which was accepted by the 
whole Larger Party, to abstain from oath-taking, 
from military duty, and from every participation in 
the violent acts of the Government, and to destroy 
all their arms. rr.£i;mj;hat time the Doukhobortsi 
-b egan to refuse to serve in the army. The first man 
who refused was Matthew IebeHebv,^^^o served in 
Elisavetpol in the reserve battalion. For special ser- 
vice, honesty and intelligence, he had been made a 
non-commissioned officer. Ten of his brethren were 
in the same battalion, and together they agreed to 
announce their refusal to bear arms by absenting 
themselves from the parade on the first day of Eas- 
ter. When the sergeant-major discovered the cause 
of their absence, " he fell upon Lebedeov, threaten- 
ing and insulting him." Lebedeov at first quietly 
told him the facts, and then " took out his gun from 
the pile and handed it over to the sergeant-major. 
Then the latter changed his manner, began to beg 
pardon for his abusive language, and to entreat Le- 
bedeov to alter his decision. But Lebedeov remained 
inflexible." 

After many ineffectual entreaties from fellow 



150 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

officers, " the commanding officer ordered Lebedeov's 
arrest. He was escorted to a dark, underground cell 
called ^ the pit/ where he was kept in strict confine- 
ment, receiving only bread and water in very small 
quantities." His ten companions followed his exam- 
ple, and were imprisoned separately, that they might 
not encourage one another; but communication went 
on continually between them by means of the sol- 
diers, who were all in sympathy with the prisoners. 
The case took its judicial course. They were tried in 
Tiflis Seventh month 14th, and the court sentenced 
them to the disciplinary battalion — a place of cruel 
torture — Lebedeov for three years, and the rest for 
two. Most of these men, as well as many others, 
are now in Siberia. 

After this, case after case began to occur of re- 
fusa lg..of Douk hobor soldiers to serve. A few sol- 
diers of the Orthodox Greek ChurcE^foIIowe3"lheir 
example. When a Doukhobor refuses to serve, he 
shortly explains his reasons for so doing. 

" Q. Why do you not wish to serve the Em- 
peror ? " 

" A. I should like to obey his will, but he trains 
us to kill men, and my conscience refuses that." 

" Q. Why does it refuse ? " 

" A. Because the Saviour has forbidden us to kill 
men, and I believe Him, and follow God's will." 

"Q. What are you?" 

" A. I am a Christian." 

" Q. Why do you call yourself a Christian ? " 



THE RECENT PEESECUTIONS. 



151 



" A. Because I know Christ's teachings. A Chris- 
tian's Living spirit will not and cannot do such deeds 
as yours/' " From this point the authorities are un- 
able to turn to us/' added the Doukhobor who gave 
me this information. 

When the Governor of Tiflis was going to visit 
the villages of the Doukhobortsi, the chief of the dis- 
trict ordered thirteen men from these villages to 
guard the road from brigands. They ought to have 
appeared with arms, but they came without them. 
On the chief of the district questioning them as to 
why they had come without arms, they answered that 
they had no need of arms, because, in case of meet- 
ing brigands, they were not going to shoot or to beat 
them, but only persuade them. And at the same 
time they declared that they refused all service in 
the government. They were arrested and im- 
prisoned. 

Those who refused to take out militia certificates 
were also imprisoned and afterwards sent to Siberia. 

The Doukhobors continued to act in this way on 
various other occasions of collision with the Govern- 
ment. But all this was only a beginning; there was 
as yet wanting a general solemn expression of their 
renimciation of violence. This expression was found 
in the resolution to burn their arms — such arms as 
almost every one around them was accustomed to 
carry and keep in their houses. 

The night between Sixth month 28 and 29, 1896, 
was chosen for this purpose, the eve of Peter and 




152 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

Paul's Day. (The Doukhobors observe tbe feasts of 
the Greek Church, giving to them a symbolic mean- 
ing.) This burning of arms took place simultane- 
ously in the province of Kars, in the government of 
Elisavetpol, and in the Akhalkalaki district of the 
Tiflis government. 

In the province of Kars the officials found out the 
place of meeting, and many arrests were the result. 

In the government of Elisavetpol the burning of 
arms passed off without trouble, but in the Akhalka- 
laki district a collision with the officials occurred, the 
story of which I shall relate in the words of those 
who took part in it: 

" We resolved," said an old Doukhobor, " to serve 
no longer, and not to obey either the Tsar or any 
other authority, but to serve God only, to walk in 
His path, and to do good. We also resolved not to 
do hurt or use violence to any one ; and, above all, to 
refrain from killing, not only men, but also all living 
creatures, even the least little bird. That left no 
need for us to keep arms, and we resolved to destroy 
them, so as to prevent them from being used by other 
men for evil purposes. We chose the day of Peter 
and Paul, and made an announcement in all our vil- 
lages. We left only knives, but every weapon made 
to kill men we collected and brought together to a 
place previously arranged. This place was long ago 
chosen by us for our great prayer meetings, and is 
called ^ The Cave.' It is really an excavation in the 
rock. The place is about three versts from the vil- 



THE RECENT PERSECUTIONS. 153 

lage of Orlovka, and a little further from our other 
villages. We met at this place, made a pile of all the 
arms, covered it with wood and coal, poured kerosene 
over all these, and set the whole on fire. There were 
present about two thousand people. 

" We were anxious lest the authorities should pre- 
vent our action, and, therefore, we did not tell every 
one about our intention; in fact, we met with no hin- 
drance. The inhabitants of other neighboring vil- 
lages, Armenians, came. They saw how we burnt 
the arms, but nobody revealed the night's business; 
and in the morning the pile was burnt out, and we 
began to pray, and to sing, and to read psalms. After 
the prayer we returned each to his home, and awaited 
what punishment might be prepared for us by the 
Government. But the day passed quietly. In the 
evening we went again to the same place, and began 
to bum over again what had escaped the fire, to pre- 
vent anybody from using it. We brought some more 
coal and bellows to blow up the flames, in order to 
melt the metallic parts into one. That night passed 
quietly also. At the dawn of day we again began to 
pray. The people assembled in greater numbers. 
There were women and children. The inhabitants of 
different villages came in vans. 

"As I said before, we kept secret our intention to 
burn the arms, being afraid we should be hindered; 
but our neighbors, the Doukhobortsi who were in 
disagreement with us, had a suspicion that we were 
doing something with our arms. 'Not knowing ac- 



154 THE EXODTJS FROM RUSSIA. 

curately what, however, and hearing that we were 
collecting arms, they decided that Ave were going to 
rob the Orphan House, about which our quarrel with 
them arose. As we expected that the authorities 
would drive us away, or exile us for refusing to serve 
the Government, some of us made preparations for 
traveling. All these preparations were taken by our 
enemies as preparations for a rising or a robbery. 
They were so afraid of an attack that they denounced 
us to the authorities. There were stationed at this 
time in the village of Gorelovka, inhabited by the 
Doukhobors of the Small Party, two battalions of in- 
fantry and two hundred Cossacks. 

" Thus the soldiery were already here, and the 
Governor came to the place of the supposed rising. 
... A messenger came to us, ordering us all to go 
to the village of Bogdanovka. The old men an- 
swered, ' We are at present praying, and till we have 
finished we shall go nowhere ; if the Governor wants 
to see us let him come to us: we are thousands, and 
he is one.' The messenger went away, and we con- 
tinued to pray and sing psalms, intending after 
prayer to go to the Governor and learn what he 
wanted with us. 

" The prayers were not yet finished when our men 
who were stationed as watchers informed us that 
Cossacks were to be seen. We closed together and 
waited for them. In front of them rode the com- 
manding officer, who, as soon as he approached us, 
shouted, ^ Hurrah ! ' and with all his hundred men 



THE KECENT PERSECUTIONS. 155 

made a rush upon us. The Cossacks began to beat us 
without restraint, and to ride us down. The men 
who stood in front were the most badly beaten, and 
those who were in the middle of the crowd were al- 
most suffocated by the pressure. . . . Some of the 
Cossacks were ashamed to strike. . . . 

" At last they discontinued the beating, and we, 
bruised and covered with blood, gathered in a crowd 
and went to the Governor. The women walked with 
us, but the Cossacks began to cut them off from us^ 
crying that there was no need of women. But the 
latter said they would follow their spiritual brethren 
everywhere. The officer ordered them to be beaten 
with the whips, but they cried that though they 
should be cut in pieces they would still go; and they 
went, the Cossacks withdrawing from them. 

" After marching a little we stopped, remember- 
ing that we had left our carts behind us, and there 
was nobody to look after them. Then the Cossacks 
began to beat us, ordering the women to go for the 
carts, but the women refused; then we were allowed 
to send from our number one man for each cart to 
drive the horses, and we continued our route to Bog- 
danovka, where we were to meet the Governor. 

" As we continued to walk, we began to sing a 
psalm, but the officers stopped our singing, and or- 
dered the Cossacks to sing obscene songs, such as we 
were ashamed to listen to." 

The interview with the Governor resulted in an- 
other beating, and then after a list of their families 



156 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

had been made out they were allowed to return 
home. The account in The Times continues: 

** After this began the so-called * execution/ i.e., 
the quartering of the Cossacks upon the villages of 
the Doukhobors. This measure is applied as a pun- 
ishment in various kinds of risings of the people. 
The soldiers thus quartered are given the right to 
use the property of the inhabitants, and to behave 
in their houses just as in a conquered country. The 
cruelty of this punishment depends on how far the 
authorities allow the soldiers to go. One certainly 
could not expect a light ' execution ' from that offi- 
cer who had previously cruelly beaten quite innocent 
men. And so it proved to be." 

" Two hundred Cossacks," said the Doukhobor, 

" were quartered in our villages, in each of which 

they stopped three days. They made camps in the 

streets, and took from our houses anything they 

liked; and if displeased, they beat us with the lash. 

They demanded that we should show them respect, 

and if we did not salute them they beat us. They 

ate all our poultry, of which we had plenty. We 

were not allowed to go outside our village, so that 

we knew nothing of what was going on in other 

places, but we heard that in Bogdanovka, where the 

bssacks had behaved most outrageously, many vio- 

ations of women had occurred, which acts the au- 

horities approved. 

" In Orlovka the Cossacks entered a house where 
sji A woman, Marya Cherkenovka, sat at work, sewing. 



«f 



THE EECENT PERSECUTIONS. 157 

They asked her, ^ Where is the master ? ' She an- 
swered, ^ I do not know.' ^ How is it you do not 
know ? ' ^ I should not know even if you had not 
come.' And she continued to sit and work. Then 
she was dragged outside and beaten with the lash. 
In the same village, an old man of sixty, Kiril Kon- 
kin, was beaten with the lash so cruelly that he died 
on the road after being exiled. . . . [Many more 
such accounts are on record]. 

" After the * execution,' they began to expel the 
Doukhobors from their villages, first by five families 
from every village, then by ten, and in a few days 
the remaining part were sent after the others. After 
the order to clear them out was given, three days 
were allowed them to make arrangements to pack 
and to sell their whole property. The things sold for 
a trifle. What cost fifty dollars was sold for five ; 
what there was no time to sell was thrown away, and 
the whole population was absolutely ruined. The 
cattle were left abroad and the corn in the fields. 

" Altogether there were expelled from the Akhal- 
kalaki district four hundred and sixty-four families. 
These were scattered over four districts in the Gov- 
ernments of Tiflis, Dushet, Jori, Trouet and Si- 
guakh, among the villages with Georgian population, 
as if with the purpose of starving them out. They 
were settled by two, three or five families in a vil- 
lage, without grant of land, and prohibited from any 
communication among themselves. They gradually 
sold all their belongings, and became laborers to the 



158 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

Georgians ; but, in spite of their complete ruin, those 
who can do so continue to help others who are poorer 
than themselves." 

While the Doukhobors were thus being scat- 
tered among strangers, many of whom were deeply 
touched by their patient sufferings, we have accounts 
of many heart-rending scenes. Their chief men, both 
old and young, were seized and transported to the 
most remote districts of the Empire, and the grief 
which is still so pathetically expressed by the be- 
reaved families, is strong evidence of their domestic 
fidelity and affection. 

By the above letter to The (London) Times, and 
by accounts of their terrible sufferings published by 
friends of Tolstoi in Russia, the case of the Spirit- 
Wrestlers became known to a considerable circle of 
readers, both in England and Russia, and many in- 
quiries were made concerning them. 

It may be of interest to the general reader to no- 
tice the spirit in which these faithful followers of the 
Prince of Peace define their situation and principles 
when in prison and exile for conscience' sake. A 
letter from the Doukhobors, in Elisavetpol prison, 
dated Sixth month 8th, 1896, reads thus: 

" Dear Friend and Brother in Jesus Christ : 

" We inform thee that, according to the mercy and 
grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ, we are all 
in peace and welfare. We heartily greet thee and 



THE EECENT PEKSECUTIONS. 159 

thy brethren, and wish jou welfare in your lives. 
May God sustain thee, dear brother. 

" Though we are strictly watched in order that we 
may not be in communication with you and the other 
brethren, yet we cannot be silent. 

" When we turned away from the ways of the 
world, when we began to fulfil the law of God, the 
commandments of Jesus Christ and of our con- 
science, then we became hated, slandered, and put 
into prison, on the pretext that we do not accept the 
power of the Emperor. 

" Are we not all children of the same Father ? A 
true Christian cannot make war and shed the blood 
of his brother, but, on the contrary, he loves him 
more than himself. For this our brethren are dis- 
persed in painful and distant exile, in order to pre- 
vent the spreading of the knowledge of the truth, and 
of the teaching of Jesus Christ. . . . 

" Let us ask God to give us patience in meekness 
to endure these persecutions, calumnies, insults, 
blows, humiliations, sufferings and illnesses, for this 
will obtain the love of God. 

" Dear friend, they know not what they do. They 
think that by such unreasonable, self-willed, unmer- 
ciful tortures they please God. Forgive us. Lord! 
us sinners and our persecutors! Turn them away. 
Lord, from the ways of iniquity, and teach them the 
way of truth ! May the Lord God hear the groans, 
wailing and cries, the voice of prayer of His ser- 



160 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

vants; may He liberate from servitude His people, 
and save them from the nets thrown over them ! " 

A similar letter was sent bj them in response to a 
greeting from some members of the Society of 
Friends. 

After a time sufficient interest was evoked in Eng- 
land and in Russia for a considerable collection to be 
made for tKese people, many of whom were dying 
from hardships and starvation. This, along with let- 
ters and messages, was conveyed to them personally 
in the winter of 1897-'98, by an English and a Rus- 
sian sympathizer. The latter thus describes a meet- 
ing of the Doukhobors, which occurred just as they 
arrived at a Doukhobor village : 

" All those who had come over for the meeting 
assembled in one hut; altogether there were about 
one hundred and fifty persons. It was so crowded 
that all had to stand. The door was open, and the 
passage also was crowded. St. John and myself and 
a friend from Tiflis were seated around the table. 
Notwithstanding the crowd there reigned complete 
silence. Altogether I must say that not in any cul- 
tivated society, or any circle of either young or old 
people, have I ever met with such good behaviour at 
large gatherings, with such tact and tolerance during 
debate, as I noticed among these people. One at a 
time speaks calmly, not hurrying, knowing before- 
hand that nobody will interfere until he has finished 
what he has to say. If it happens that several per- 
sons begin to talk at once, precedence is given, with- 



THE RECENT PERSECUTIONS. 161 

out unnecessary persuasion or displeasure, to one of 
them. When anyone leaves off speaking, the next 
one, before beginning, generally asks: ^ Well, 
Vanya, have you finished ? ' There is in all this 
much respect for the personality of one another, and 
much love. From this results an order such as it is 
impossible to keep in an ordinary company by any 
number of chairman's bells. 

" First of all, I gave them the greetings of all 
their friends, Russians as well as foreigners, — also 
from Leo Tolstoi. I told them I had to hand over 
some money and some letters. The letters I pro- 
posed to read aloud. In a few words I related where 
and how the monev had been collected; then it was 
counted and handed over. One of the Doukhobors 
then said that all who were present wished to ex- 
press their thanks in their own way, and the whole 
crowd began to move, and made a low — a very low 
— bow. A general sigh, stifled with emotion, was 
uttered, and one could hear sobbing. Seeing before 
me the backs and heads of the bowing people, — peo- 
ple whom I respect so highly, and who have suffered 
so much for the truth, — expressing this murmur of 
gratitude, and seeing also their deeply-moved faces, 
I was touched to the soul. 

" After this, I read the letter from Y. Tchertkov 
[containing messages from English sympathizers] ; 
it made a deep impression. All the time one could 
hear sighs, and words of gratitude : — ' Save them, O 
Lord ! ' — * Grant them eternal life ! ' — ' Help them 



162 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

on their righteous path ! ' — and so forth. After the 
reading was over one of them said, ^ We thanked you 
for the charity you bestowed upon us for the body, 
and although it is very dear to us, this charity, being 
spiritual, which nourishes the soul, is much dearer 
to us; how are we to thank you for it? ' And again 
all made a low bow, and again, like a wave, arose a 
murmur of gratitude and love." 

The same writer further describes how he found 
these people: 

" When I was about to visit them last year, I ex- 
pected to see either fanatics, or a people particularly 
inclined to mysticism. I expected that they would 
be sad and dejected, and that it must be more agree- 
able to hear about them than to live among them. 
I know, too, that the majority of those who have 
heard of the Doukhobors, and sympathize with them, 
have the same notion. 

" In reality it turned out to be quite different. 
In spite of the fact that last year (as in this) they 
were in extremely bad circumstances, suffering from 
fevers, eye diseases, etc., their food so insufficient 
that it was a wonder how their large, strong bodies 
could be sustained, in spite of the great mortality, 
and the unnaturalness of their life of idleness, owing 
to scarcity of work, and in spite of the fact that al- 
most every family had some of its members exiled 
or languishing in prisons and penal battalions,* I no- 

* " In these battalions, according to the regulations, the 
prisoners were expected every day to comply with the de- 



THE RECENT PERSECUTIONS. 163 

ticed among them, from the first day, and the first 
words, such vitality and animation, such abundance 
of hearty energy, and such soberness, as I had pre- 
viously had no idea of whilst living among people 
who cannot decide as to the life they want to lead, 
whether for God or Mammon, and who consequently 
are wearied out, suffering and discontented. 

" Contrary to my expectations, I saw that they 
do not subject themselves to any oppressive princi- 
ples which limit the freedom of their individuality. 
Each one, when considering any question, is guided 
by his own spiritual understanding. That is why 
they are so energetic, joyful and free. And all their 
actions, which to us seem extraordinary, are to them 
quite usual. This results from the fact that their 
conduct is looked upon by them only as the outward 
manifestation of continued inward, spiritual force. 
And out of this conception arises the fact that there 
is no need for people to carry out this act or that, 
prompted by any other motive than the impossibility 
to act otherwise. 

^^ Therefore there are no vain actions, as nobody 
will praise them; there are no actions from fear of 

mands of military discipline. As the Doukhobors could not 
conscientiously do this, they were subject to an incessant 
series of punishments, — flogging, confinement in a cold, dark 
cell, diet of bread and water, prolongation of sentence, and 
so on. But in the autumn of 1896 an order was issued from 
the government that those who refused military service on 
religious grounds were not to be imprisoned in military 
places of detention." — " Christian Martyrdom in Russia," page 
51. 



164 THE EXODFS FROM RUSSIA. 

censure on the part of the brethren, as no one will 
blame them; there are no actions out of blind sub- 
mission to the majority, as no one either expects or 
demands anything from another. Moreover, if there 
be any one whose inner consciousness does not 
strongly exhort him to live this life, he always has 
the possibility of joining the Small Party. 

" In my presence the news came that one of the 
Doukhobors, who was kept in a penal battalion, not 
having strength to bear the tortures, consented to 
serve. All who were present in the hut had only just 
heard about it, and I was able to observe their imme- 
diate attitude towards this matter. Nearly all of 
them spoke with sorrow about him and pitied him: 
' Dear lad, he had to bear much pain; and now it will 
be still harder for him, poor fellow.' All spoke of 
him with such affection, such grief; they feared that 
he would find it still harder to live after his consent 
to serve in the army. They spoke of his youthful- 
ness, of the sensitiveness of his nature, and of his se- 
vere sufferings. 

" The feeling is just as tolerant and tender when 
it happens that one of the exiled goes over to the 
Small Party, not having strength to bear the hard- 
ships of persecution. Generally he comes, bows to 
all, and asks forgiveness for leaving them. On their 
part, those who remain give him their best wishes: 
^ May God grant you to live there as well as possible. 
One can serve God everywhere.' They ask forgive- 
ness for not having been able to make his life among 



THE KECENT PERSECUTIONS. 1C)5 

them more easy. They give him two horses, a van, 
and food for his journey. 

" Their relations to their neighbors who have 
never shared their faith is equally kind. Soon after 
the settlement of the Doukhobors in the government 
of Tiflis, a Georgian in one of the villages fell ill. It 
happened to be in autumn, and the corn gathered in 
by him was not yet removed, but was lying in 
sheaves in the yard. As the rain was pouring down 
the corn would have spoiled. The Doukhobors came 
to know of this, went to his place, threshed the corn, 
put it in its place, and went away, almost without 
seeing the owner. 

" In another village one of the Doukhobors once 
heard, during the night, some noise going on near 
the horses. He went out to see what was the mat- 
ter, and saw that a Georgian had led his horse out, 
and was mounting on it, and was about to gallop 
away. The Doukhobor began to shout ; ' Stop ! 
stop ! ' so persistently that the Georgian — though he 
was already some distance away — stood still. The 
Doukhobor said: ' I only wanted to tell you that you 
need not be afraid, and that you should not consider 
this horse as a stolen one; if you want it, take it.' 
The Georgian stood still for awhile, reflected, came 
back and returned the horse." 

The same writer had some discussion with them on 
the use or disuse of ceremonies, pointing out to them 
that those of the Small Party go through the same 
ceremonies, but that this fact has not prevented 



166 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

them from declining in the spirit. He asked them 
whether such a view of ceremonies as he had ex- 
pressed separated him from them or not ? They all, 
without exception, replied that as soon as we ac- 
knowledge the command to love God and our neigh- 
bor, nothing could ever disunite us. Some of the 
younger ones showed a tendency to apologize for 
their ceremonies; the older ones thought that their 
sympathizers, if they lived among them, would prob- 
ably by and by understand them, and join with them 
in their form of worship. 

The English visitor, A. St. John, spent some time 
moving about among the sufferers, and after this he 
went to Cyprus for the purpose of discovering 
whether that island would be a suitable home for 
the Doukhobors in case they should be allowed to 
emigrate. He remained there long enough to re- 
ceive the first party of emigrants, to help them in 
their difficulties in that unsuitable climate, and 
finally to accompany them to Canada, — as will be 
more fully related further on. 

The exiled leader, ]geter V erigin, was kept in- 



formed as far as possible of whaT^wasTappening to 
his brethren. The following letter, written from his 
place of exile, was on two occasions placed in the 
hands of Court ladies who have near access to the 
Empress, but it is not known whether it ever reached 
the Empress Alexandra or not: 

'^ May the Lord God preserve thy soul in this life, 
as well as in the future age. Sister Alexandra. 



THE RECENT PERSECUTIONS. 167 

" I, a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, am living 
in the testimony and glad tidings of His truth. I am 
in exile since the year 1886, from the ' Spirit- Wres- 
tlers ' [Doukhobor] Community of Transcaucasia. 
The word ^ Spirit-Wrestler ' should be understood 
thus: that we in the spirit and with our soul profess 
God (see, in the Gospel, the meeting of Christ with 
the Samaritan woman at the well). 

'^ I implore thee, sister in Christ the Lord, Alex- 
andra, pray thy husband Nicholas to spare the Spirit- 
Wrestlers in the Caucasus from persecution. It is 
to thee that I address myseK, because I think thy 
heart is more turned towards the Lord God. And 
there are at this moment more women and children 
suffering: husbands and parents are confined in 
prisons, and families are dispersed in the native vil- 
lages, where the authorities incite the population to 
behave coarsely with them. This falls especially 
heavily upon the Christian women ! Lately they 
have been putting women and children into prisons. 

" The fault on our part is that we, as far as it is 
possible to us, endeavor to become Christians. In 
regard to some of our actions, their understandings 
may not be suflSciently enlightened. 

" Thou art probably acquainted with the teaching 
of vegetarianism; we are sharers in these humani- 
tarian views. Lately we have ceased to use flesh as 
food,* and to drink wine, and have forsaken much of 

* " The Doukhobors were vegetarians at least as far back 
as the beginning of last century, but towards the middle of 



168 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

that whicli leads to a dissipated life, and darkens the 
light of the human soul. Kefusing to kill animals, 
we in no case regard it as possible to deprive men of 
life. If we were to kill an ordinary man, or even a 
robber, it would seem to us that we had decided to 
kill Christ. 

" The State demands that our brethren should 
learn the use of the gun, in order to know well how 
to kill. The Christians do not agree to this; they 
are put into prisons, beaten and starved; the sisters 
and mothers are coarsely defiled as women, very 
often with railing exclamations, ' Where is your 
God ? ' ' Why does He not help you ? ' (Our God 
is in heaven and on earth, and fulfils all His will.) 

" This is sad, especially because it is all taking 
place in a Christian country. But our community 
in the Caucasus consists of about twenty thousand 
men.* Is it possible that such a small number could 
injure the organism of the State, if soldiers were not 
recruited from among them? At the present mo- 
ment they are recruited, but uselessly. Thirty men 
are in the Ekaterinograd penal battalion, where the 
authorities are only tormenting themselves by tor- 
turing them. 

" Man we regard as the temple of the living God, 



the century they had relaxed in this respect, as well as in 
regard to their other principles." — "Christian Martyrdom," 
page 102. 

* This is a large estimate, and included the " Small Party," 
who had betrayed their principles. 



THE RECENT PERSECUTIONS. 169 

and we can in no case prepare ourselves to kill him, 
though for this we were to be threatened by death. 

" The most convenient manner of dealing with us 
would be to establish us in one place where we might 
live and labor in peace. All State obligations in the 
form of taxes we would pay, only we cannot be sol- 
diers. 

" If the Government were to find it impossible to 
consent to this, then let it give us the right of emi- 
gration into one of the foreign countries. We would 
willingly go to England or (which is most conve- 
nient) to America, where we have a great number of 
brothers in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

" From the fulness of my soul, I pray the Lord for 
the welfare of thy family. 

" The servant of Christ, Peter, 

"(living in exile in the Government of Tobolsk.)" 

Another epistle, showing his Christ-like spirit, was 
addressed by the same writer to his suffering breth- 
ren, under date of First month 2d, 1896; 

" The concern of most importance to me, when 
thinking of my fellows, is that they might as far as 
possible try to become humble and meek, which is in- 
dispensable for entering the kingdom of God. 

" I think that when they have begun to be wor- 
ried, and their material state to be ruined, they must 
be very careful not to be tempted. I hold that 
anxiety of material well-being constitutes already a 



170 



THE EXODUS FEOM RUSSIA. 



great stumbling-block and injury to the soul. I ask 
that you will advise all who know me not to be an- 
gry, not to grumble at the Government because it op- 
presses them. But let them bear, with God's help, 
any trial which befalls them. Let them only remem- 
ber what Christ, and afterwards the Apostles, had to 
suffer for the Truth. It is important to bear, without 
complaint, scorn for the Truth, but it is still more im- 
portant, when suffering for Truth's sake, to bear that 
patiently. 

" Peter Veeigin." 



CHAPTEK II. 

THE EMIGRATION. 

In Third m 9 , n1^h , 1898, new s was received in Eng- 
land by Y. Tchertkov that permission had been 
granted to the Doukhobors to emigrate. The im- 
mediate cause of this permission was a visit from the 
DoAvager Empress to her son in the Caucasus. During 
this visit the Doukhobors succeeded in presenting to 
her a petition, asking permission to be settled all to- 
gether in some remote place, or to be allowed to emi- 
grate. The Empress handed over this petition to- 
the superior authorities, and the leave to emir ate 

This welcome news resulted in great activity 
among the friends of the Doukhobors in England. A 
committee of the Society of Friends c o-operated with 
\^ Tphp rtkoy a a44iis coadjutors in raising a lund for 
their help, in making arrangements for the emigra- 
tion, and in selecting a suitable place for a new settle- 
ment. They were in constant communication with 
Leo Tolstoi an d other sympathizers in Russia. 

After a long time of negotiation and inquiry, two 
pioneer families of Doukhobors went to England, as 
delegates, for conference with their friends. The 
two Doukhobor men left their families behind them 
in Essex while they went with Prince Hilkov to 
Cyprus. Their report was not favorable, but it came 
too late to stop the first emigration to that island. In 



172 THE EXODUS FKOM RUSSIA. 

the meantime there had been active preparations 
going on in the Caucasus, and a ship was chartered 
and ready to leave Batoum. The experience 
was very unusual, and the whole situation most diffi- 
cult to deal with. America had been thought of, but 
the idea of removing so many settlers to that great 
distance seemed at first an impossible dream. The 
cost, to say nothing of other obstacles, was more than 
could be faced. Where else, then, should they go? 
^o other land seemed to welcome them, and the 
urgency to get away quickly from Russia was very 
great. The Cyprus venture was made, as we know 
now, with disastrous results. 

In the meantime, tj^gJDoiikhobor^ioneers returned 
to England, all eager for America, the land of their 
desire. Autumn wai~at ' h"and^"'*ana they wished to 
view the land before the crops were all gathered. 
Correspondence with people likely to be interested, 
both in the States and in Canada, had been going for- 
ward from the center of operations in England, and 
the best judgment favored Western Canada as the 
most likely place for a settlement. It had also been 
discovered that between the different communities 
of Doukhobors (those of Kars and other districts be- 
ing better off than the banished ones) there were 
funds sufficient to pay for the ocean voyage, if help 
were given for railway transit and the expense of 
settlement. So possibilities for this great exodus be- 
gan to appear. 

^aude. a man well fitted for his work. 



THE EMIGRATIOIS^. 173 

agreed to undertake negotiations with the Canadian 
government. He and Prince Hilkov accompanied 
the first two Doukhobor families to Canada. Prince 
D. A. Hilkov is a man of striking personality, and 
has had a very interesting life history. " He is a 
nephew of the present Russian Minister of Railways, 
and was an officer in the Russian army at the time of 
the Turkish war in 1878, serving in the Caucasus, 
and during his military life there met many of the 
Doukhobors then living in that hill country. One 
day he killed a Turk in battle, and captured his 
horse; but another horse, an extremely fine animal, 
escaped him after a long chase. The Prince re- 
turned to camp much discontented and dissatisfied, 
thinking at first that the failure to get the horse was 
at the bottom of his disquietude. It gradually 
dawned upon him, however, that his unrest came 
from haviQg killed a man. The more he thought 
upon it, the more he realized the bad use to which he 
was devoting his strength and energy, killing people 
whom he did not dislike, and whom he had never met 
before, and he determined to leave the Russian 
army. This he could not do at once, but he abstained 
from the further taking of human life, though often 
in positions of great personal danger. 

" At a later peri od Prince Hilkov le ft the mili- 
tary service, and settled on his mother's estate in 
Southern Russia. There he occupied himseK with 
agriculture, and came into closer touch with the 
peasantry. He saw how miserable they were and 



174 THE EXODUS EEOM RUSSIA. 

how hard their life was, in consequence of heavy 
taxation and enforced military service. Moreover, 
the quantity of land allotted to them at the emanci- 
pation of the serfs was insufficient for their needs. 
Ultimately the Prince came into possession of his 
mother's estate, and immediately divided it up among 
his peasants, he himself living by his own toil, and 
dwelling on a small section of land which had been 
allotted to him by the peasants themselves. By this 
^ct Prince Hilkov acquired great influence among 
the peasants, and was consulted by them in all their 
troubles, more particularly with regard to the extor- 
tions of the priests of the Russian Church for per- 
forming the burial and marriage services. The 
Prince finally advised the peasants to do as the 
Stundists and other Protestant sects in Russia were 
doing, — ^to get along without the priests altogether; 
— advice which was at once adopted. This proceed- 
ing caused a serious shrinkage in the church income, 
and he was denounced by the priest as the founder 
of a new sect." 

The free bestowal of his patrimony upon the peas- 
ants of his estate brought down upon the Prince the 
wrath of Alexander III., and that of his court. " He 
was remonstrated with to no purpose, so firm a hold 
had the altruistic impulse taken on him. The late 
Ozar sent for him, and informed him that his estate 
was the pesthouse of the Empire; exhorted him to 
return to the faith and customs of his ancestors, and 
warned him that persistence in his doctrine would 



THE EMIGRxlTION. 175 

lead to serious trouble. The prophecy proved true, 
as the predictions of those who have the power to 
verify them are apt to do. Shortly afterwards, while 
the Prince was living quietly at home on his estate, 
officers, commissioned by the Czar, entered it with 
the cruel news that they had come to take his chil- 
dren from him. His eldest son was snatched 
from the frantic mother's embrace, and his little 
daughter borne away by the rude Cossacks. . . . 

" The broken-hearted father had resolution enough 
to demand an explanation from the Czar. His Im- 
perial Majesty condescended to assign as a reason, 
that no Prince of the Russian Empire should ever be 
brought up in the pernicious faith espoused by 
Prince Hilkov, if he could prevent it. The decree 
proved absolute. . . . 

" Prince Hilkov's two children were handed over 
to his mother, at her request, to be brought up in 
the Orthodox faith. The Prince was banished to the 
Caucasus, where he lived among the Doukhobors. 
A few years later the Russian Government banished 
the leaders and prominent men of the Doukhobors to 
Siberia. The Prince was then sent to the Baltic 
provinces, and placed among the Lettish-speaking 
people. There he lived for two years, after which 
he received permission to leave Russia altogether." 
Subsequently he was very useful both as a negotiator 
and an interpreter in helping the Doukhobors to set- 
tle in Canada. 

In different parts of America, helpers were raised 



176 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA, 

up who rendered valuable assistance. The Society of 
Friends in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in other 
places, formed committees for the raising of funds, 
and for the collecting and spreading of information, 
and they have given practical brotherly aid in many 
ways during and since the emigration. 

The government and railway officials in Canada 
proved sympathetic, and did all they could to help 
forward the preparations. Count Tolstoi, with his 
usual clearness and energy, stated the situation at 
this critical juncture in the following appeal, which 
was widely circulated: 

" I happen to know the details of the persecutions 
and sufferings of these people; I am in communica- 
tion with them, and they ask me to help them. 
Therefore I consider it my duty to address myself 
to all good people, whether Russian or not Russian, 
asking them to help the Doukhobortsi out of the ter- 
rible position in which they now are. I have at- 
tempted to address myself, through the medium of a 
Russian newspaper, to the Russian public, but do not 
know yet whether my appeal will be published or 
not; and I now address myself once more to all sym- 
pathizers, asking for their assistance, (1) in the form 
of money, of which much will be needed for the re- 
moval of ten thousand * people to a distant place ; 
and (2), in the form of advice and guidance in the 

* Two thousand of these died before the emigration was 
effected. Count Tolstoi contributed $17,000 for the relief of 
the Doukhobors by the sale of some of his publications. 



THE EMIGRATION. 177 

difficulties of the coming emigration of people who 
do not understand any foreign language, and have 
never been out of Russia before. 

" I trust that the leading authorities of the Rus- 
sian government will not prevent such assistance 
being rendered, and that they will check the exces- 
sive zeal of the Caucasian administration, which is, 
at the present moment, not admitting any communi- 
cation whatever with the Doukhobortsi. 

" In the meantime, I offer to act as intermediary 
to all those who are anxious to help the Doukho- 
bortsi, and who wish to enter into communication 
with them, for until the present my communications 
with them have not been interrupted. My address is 
Moscow, Hamovnichesky, Pereoulok, 21. 

" Communications upon this subject may, for 
greater safety, be sent to me through the medium of 
my friend, Vladi mir Tchertkov, no w living in Eng- 
land, who will be glad to furnish further details, and 
the latest information on the subject, in answer to 
any inquiries addressed to him at Purleigh, Essex. 

" Leo Tolstoi. 

'' ^pril 1st, 1898. ^' 

English Friends then came to the rescue with the 
following appeal, which also had a wide circulation: 

" Appeal from the Society of Friends. 



" Minute of London Yearly Meeting of the Society 
of Friends: 



178 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

" 23d of Fifth month, 1898. 
" A report has been received from the Meeting 
for Sufferings in regard to the Doukhobortsi. This 
Meeting approves the action which has been taken by 
its Representative Meeting; and in strong and near 
sympathy with this suffering people we adopt the 
draft address which accompanies the Report, and we 
commend its circulation and the whole subject to 
the continued care and attention of the Meeting for 
Sufferings. We trust that our members generally 
may be able to raise funds to assist the speedy emi- 
gration from Russia of the Doukhobortsi. 

" Signed on behalf of the Meeting, 

" Caleb R. Kemp, Clerk. 

" Devonshire House, 12 Bishopsgate Without, 
London, E. C." 

" Address. 

" To Members of the Society of Friends, and to 

those who unite with them in believing war to 

be incompatible with the teaching of our Lord 

and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

^^ Dear Friends: — We desire to lay before you the 

case of the people who are known in Russia as the 

Doukhobortsi (a word signifying those who strive in 

the Spirit), who are at present under suffering in 

that country for their refusal to bear arms. 

" They were originally drawn together in the last 
century by the conviction that it is unlawful for 



THE EMIGRATION. 179 

Christians to shed the blood of their fellow men ; and 
in acting on this conviction they came in conflict, on 
several occasions, with the law by which the con- 
scription is enforced in Eussia, until in the time of 
the Emperor Mcholas I. they were exiled from the 
Crimea, where they had been settled, to the western 
Transcaucasus. 

" Gradually, however, they had declined from the 
measure of light and knowledge experienced by their 
predecessors, until they ceased to maintain their tes- 
timony against war, although they continued in the 
course of industry and probity which had made them 
outwardly prosperous. 

" This was their general condition until some three 
years ago, when, through the instrumentality of one 
of their own number, their community was aroused 
from its lethargy with the solemn message, ^ Remem- 
ber from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do 
the first works.' In the awakening which followed 
they were constrained again faithfully to witness to 
the truth committed to them. Humbly, but firmly, 
they refused any longer to perform military service, 
and thus exposed themselves to severe suffering at 
the hands of the authorities appointed to enforce it. 
Floggings, imprisonment, fines, exile of some to Si- 
beria, and ariving of otners from their homes and 
f armsinto districts where they were left without 
f ood or^ shelter, foll owed in rapid succession, until 
many hundreds died of want, or of sickness resulting 
from their privations. 



180 THE EXODUS EROM RUSSIA. 

" Their condition being at length brought to the 
knowledge of the Empress-Mother, and of the Czar 
himself, by petitions entreating leave ' for them to 
emigrate from Russia, the Emperor, honorably dis- 
criminating between the disobedience to the law by 
evil doers, and a disobedience arising from conscien- 
tious endeavor to do right, granted this request, sub- 
ject to some limitations. 

"As the Society of Eriends have, as a body, al- 
ways mamtamed tlie incompaUbilily oT WUP TVllh IMl 
Je|c hm g di" C 'lir i it SX^hich ferijoms tLgt(^ ^(T r e 6Ven our 
'enemiesj"""WI5' "havisr^isit deeply for the Doukhobortsi 
in the heavy trials through which they have been 
passing, for their witness to the same truth. We are 
humbled in the remembrance that the religious and 
civil freedom we ourselves enjoy has been gained 
through heavy suffering by those who have gone be- 
fore us. Other men have labored, and we have en- 
tered into their labors; and we feel that the trials so 
patiently endured by these poor Russian peasants 
should not only recall to us the need of holding fast 
to our testimony to the truth so dear to them, but 
that their condition should awaken our active sym- 
pathy on their behalf. 

" Gratefully recognizing, therefore, as we do, the 

desire of the Emperor of Russia to spare the Douk- 

' hobortsi from further suffering, in permitting them 

to emigrate, we feel we ought to give effect to it, as 

far as lies in our power, by contributing towards the 



THE EMIGRATION. 181 

cost of such emigration, as these poor people them- 
selves are without the means of defraying it. 

" We also desire to bring the circumstances to the 
notice of Friends everywhere, as well as to all others 
who hold the same conscientious conviction of the 
unlawfulness of war to the followers of Christ, as 
we believe thej will gladly evince their sympathy for 
the Doukhobortsi Dy'unitiiig i fl ffelldeiTiig th e m t he 
monetary aid of which they are now in need. 

" Signed, for the Committee of the Meeting for 
Sufferings,* 

" John Bellows. 

" Subscriptions may be sent to Isaac Sharp, 12 
Bishopsgate Without, London, E. C. The Funds 
will be administ ered under the care of the Societ y of 
^ Eriends/' 

In the Ninth month, 1898, the arrangements were 
completed for bringingtEe°^loni?ts to Canada. One 
of the conditions which favored this settlement was 
an exemption clause in the Dominion Militia Act, 
section 21 of which reads as follows: "Every per- 
son bearing a certificate from the Society of Quakers, 
Mennonites or Tunkers, and every inhabitant of Can- 
ada of any religious denomination, otherwise subject 
to military duty, who from the doctrines of his re- 

* The " Meeting for Sufferings " is the Standing Committee 
of the Society, and was so named from its having been orig- 
inally appointed to aid members who were in prison, etc., etc., 
for conscience' sake. 



182 THE EXODUS FROM EUSSIA. 

ligion is averse to bearing arms and refuses personal 
military service, shall be exempt from such service 
when balloted in time of peace or war, upon such 
conditions and under such regulations as the Gov- 
ernor in Council from time to time prescribes." 

From Quebec, where the prospecting party arrived 
on the 10th of !Ninth month, Aylmer Maude wrote to 
V. Tchertkov in England that Prof. Mavor of To- 
ronto had succeeded in interesting a number of gov- 
ernment officials in the proposed exodus, and that 
the professor did not doubt the Doukhobortsi would 
be treated fairly upon their arrival, but that no 
money would be raised to bring them over the sea. 
He said: " The case seems to be that Canada is as 
free as any country in the world." 

The interview with the Deputy Minister of the In- 
terior was very satisfactory. The agreement on the 
part of the Dominion government, dated Tenth 
month 5th, 1898, reads thus: " (1) Those responsible 
for the organization of the emigration to receive the 
usual bonus of Rve dollars per adult, children count- 
ing half. (2) A further grant of one dollar and fifty 
cents for each man, woman and child settled, towards 
organization and transportation expenses. (3) The 
use of the Immigration Halls in Manitoba and the 
N^orthwest Territory granted during the winter 
months." 

The Canadian Pacific Eailway Company also 
showed a generous spirit, and allowed its alternate 
holdings of land in the ISTorthwest Territory to be so 



THE EMIGRATION. 183 

exclianged as to aid the Doukhobortsi in getting their 
sections of land together. 

At this juncture a cable message was sent to 
Tchertkov: " Let exiles come. Land ready. Arrange- 
ments progressing favorably." This was a most criti- 
cal moment in the Exodus; the waters were parting, 
but how to insure the passage of the entire commun- 
ity was a problem still to be solved. The English 
Friends had done nobly, and under urgent circum- 
stances had raised a guarantee fund of $80,000, de- 
manded by their government in the island of Cyprus 
before the one thousand one hundred and twenty- 
nine Doukhobors first embarking from Batoum were 
allowed to land there, on the first of ^N^inth month, 
1898. This was graphically set forth in The British 
Friend of Ninth month of that year: " While the 
Committee [of the Meeting for Sufferings] were dili- 
gently and carefully investigating the facilities which 
Cyprus afforded, they were suddenly startled and al- 
most appalled by the information that three thou- 
sand ^Ye hundred of those who were in the greatest 
peril had resolved, without waiting for further ad- 
vice and assistance from the Committee, to flee for 
their lives, and were already in movement for Ba- 
toum, their port of embarkation. Fifteen hundred 
acres of land having been offered them in Cyprus, 
under conditions which appeared equitable, the Com- 
mittee at once concluded to accept the offer, as at 
least supplying a spot on which their weary limbs and 
heads might rest, and their sinking hearts possibly 



184 THE EXODUS FROM EUSSIA. 

find courage. Already one thousand one hundred 
men, women and children had made their way to Ba- 
toum, and were chartering a vessel to carry them to 
a ^ promised land/ when the committee was sud- 
denly and unexpectedly confronted with the diffi- 
culty of furnishing the large financial guarantee 
(ultimately fixed at £15 per head) demanded by the 
British government before the refugees would be al- 
lowed to land in the island." 

How liberally the Friends, touched by the su- 
preme necessity of the movement, responded to 
the call, and how, within a few days — one might al- 
most say within a few hours — ^the whole of the large 
guarantee of £16,500 was raised, has been touch- 
ingly told by the pen of a devoted member of the 
Committee (John Bellows), in a current issue of The 
(London) Friend: " Thus the way seemed cleared at 
last, and under a feeling of chastened relief and 
thankfulness the Committee breathed more freely. 
Meanwhile behind these one thousand one hundred 
stand the two thousand four hundred at Tiflis, who 
have sold the remnant of their belongings, and who 
telegraph that they have obtained their passports, 
and are ready to start. What is to become of them ? 
Divine Providence only knows ! 

" The Committee's powers are exhausted, their 
means at an end, and they can only bid the exiles 
' Wait ! ' Behind these also are four thousand more, 
now in the neighborhood of Kars, less impoverished 
by cruel persecution, but equally anxious to flee to a 



THE EMIGRATION. 185 

place of safety. What is to become of them ? Prob- 
ably since the persecution and slaughter of the 
Huguenots, two centuries ago, there has been no in- 
stance of such cruel, such relentless, persecution, as 
that directed against this harmless and industrious 
community. As France in that day drove out tens 
of thousands of the best of her sons and daughters, 
so does the Eussian government of to-day cast off and 
trample under foot thousands of its worthiest peas- 
ant subjects. Whilst the former were victims of re- 
lentless and triumphant priestcraft, the latter are de- 
voured by insatiable militarism. In conclusion, the 
Committee earnestly solicits the continued sympathy 
and support of all members of the Society." 

This appeal, written by Edmund W. Brooks, and 
supplemented by that of another English Friend, to 
Friends of Philadelphia, Pa., were not made in vain. 
Wilson Sturge had already gone from England to 
help settle the first shipload of exiles in Cyprus, and 
Friends of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting appointed a 
Committee to solicit subscriptions, and in every way 
to assist those coining to America. 

Prof. James Mavor, of the University of Toronto, 
wrote under date of Tenth month 24th, 1898: " The 
Doukhobors, to the number of at least two thousand 
two hundred, will sail in about a week from the port 
of Batoum direct to Quebec [Halifax]. The Cana- 
dian government has agreed to give them a free 
grant of land suitable and sufficient for the settle- 



186 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

ment of seven thousand ^Ye hundred Doukhobors. 
Of these four thousand have resources to bring them 
out and to establish them in the very minimum of 
comfort, with the aid the government gives. 

" There are two thousand two hundred who need 
practically everything, the persecutions having re- 
sulted in their complete impoverishment. The cir- 
cumstance that in a few months a number of their 
young men will fall to be drawn for military service, 
and the fear that the permission granted by the Czar 
to leave the country may be withdrawn, coupled with 
the dread of a return to active persecution, are the 
chief impulses which impel them to seek another 
country at all hazards of suffering from inadequate 
shelter in an inclement winter. 

" The Doukhobors are communists in the sense 
that they liave communiiy bi properly witnin the 
^f ^p , C'gmp y l ali i g W^ ' litmdi^t^d a nd fifty iamihe's> 
Some of the groups have larger accumulations than 
others, but they are all willing to help each other. 
Had this not been the case, the emigration of so large 
a number at this time of year would have been alto- 
gether impracticable. They seem, moreover, willing 
to encounter anything, rather than spend another 
winter in Russia." 

There is an incident in connection with their de- 
parture from their Caucasian homes which is very 
characteristic of their consiaer ati'on 'for others, not 
only for their brethren, but even for their oppres- 
sors. Prince Hilkov says: " When they abandoned 



THE EMIGEATION. 18T 

their cottages and huts, scattered throughout the 
Georgian villages, these were left in a neat and tidy 
condition, and in each were arranged a table, two 
chairs, two loaves of bread, and a jug of water, so 
that any one who might come to them hungry would 
not go away unsatisfied.'' 

The same writer says : " Drunkenness (a besetting 
Russian sin) and idleness are practically unknown 
among them, and they are always neat and tidy. 
They have no organization, no written regulations^ 
no provisions for punishment. Instead of the latter, 
they merely remind one another, in a brotherly way, 
of their faults." 

" They are possessed of an infinite patience under 
suffering and sorrow, and are essentially simple- 
hearted. They have, further, great vital energy, and 
quiet persistence of purpose, which are dominant 
traits of the Slavonic race." 

Friends of Philadelphia now took up the emigra- 
tion of the Doukhobors in good earnest. Several 
printed appeals were widely circulated, and near 
$30,000 was contributed toward their settlement in 
the ^N^orthwest Territory. 

The second ship, with some two thousand of these 
Russian refugees, sailed from Batoum about the mid- 
dle of Twelfth month, 1898. Before leaving Rus- 
sia, the Doukhobors had to sign an agreement never 
to return within the borders of the Empire, or, in 
such event, to submit to Siberian exile. 

While they were being driven away to the village 



188 THE EXODUS FEOM RUSSIA. 

of Bogdanovka to present themselves before the Gov- 
ernor of Tiflis, before leaving forever their native 
land, the J sang: 

"For the sake of Thee, Lord, 
I loved the narrow gate; 
I left the material life; 
I left father and mother, 
I left brother and sister; 
I left my whole race and tribe; 
I bear hardness and persecution; 
I bear scorn and slander; 
I am hungry and thirsty; 
I am walking naked, 
For the sake of Thee, Lord." 

This embarkation, and that of the previous one 
thousand one hundred who went to Cyprus, were 
effected by using the emigration fund of $23,000 
which the Doukhobors had raised among themselves 
during the past three years, for just such an emer- 
gency, in conjunction with money contributed by Leo 
Tolstoi and others. 

While these two thousand exiles were en route for 
Canada, Joseph S. Elkinton, a minister of the So- 
ciety of Friends in Philadelphia, Pa., felt a religious 
concern to meet them on their arrival, which he did 
in company with Job S. Gidley, a fellow-minister, of 
North Dartmouth, Mass. The landing was an event 
long to be remembered by those who witnessed it. 

As the Lake Huron, with its two thousand and 
seventy-three pilgrims, drew near the land of their 
adoption, they beheld a very different scene from 
that which they had left, some four weeks before, in 



f 



I 




raolOGBiPHED ET JAilES i. SMART, 



The First Shipload of Doukhobors Arriving at Halifax. 



•'"jrg'ir 



THE EMIGRATION. 189 

the Black Sea; and the welcome now awaiting them 
must have contrasted strangely with the treatment 
they had grown so familiar with at the hands of the 
Russian officials. The Canadian authorities almost 
vied with each other, during the suspense of a week's 
waiting, in making preparations for the comfort of 
these worthy colonists. i 

A Halifax paper (issued First month 20th, 1899) 
thus announced the safe arrival of this pioneer con- 
tingent: " Safe into port at 3 o'clock this afternoon 
came the steamship Lake Huron, Captain Evans, 
with her company of over two thousand Doukho- 
bortsi, — the largest number of immigrants who ever 
crossed the Atlantic at one time, to an American 
port. For many days Deputy Minister Smart had 
been anxiously awaiting the coming of this curious 
people, who are turning their faces to the free and 
fertile lands of this Canadian domain ; and when the 
Beaver Line flag was hoisted at the Citadel at 1.30 
this afternoon there was rejoicing on all hands. 
From December 22d the Lake Huron has been bat- 
tling with the gales which played high pranks with 
craft on the Western Ocean." 

The same authority voices the impression made 
upon all who welcomed these sturdy sons and daugh- 
ters of toil: " The Doukhobors are people of the pur- 
est Russian type, large and strong, men and women 
both being of magnificent physique. They are charac- 
terized by broad, square shoulders, heavy limbs, and 
a massive build generally. Their features are promi- 



190 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

nent, but refined, and bear the marks of a life tbat is 
free from vice of any kind. The most striking char- 
acteristic of all is the bright, kindly sparkle of their 
eyes, which gives a winning expression to the whole 
iace, and quickly wins confidence in their character. 
All their habits demonstrate that they are possessed 
of keen minds." 

The Montreal WeeMy Witness of Mrst month 
17th, 1898, said: " They are a simple, kindly folk; a 
people of integrity and pure morals. . . . Clean and 
well-kept villages have always marked their habita- 
tions. Even in the Wet Mountains of the Caucasus 
they speedily earned the respect and good-will of 
their neighbors, the wild hillsmen. Prince Kropot- 
Mn, a keen observer, says that in the deserts of the 
Amoor region and that of Elizavetpol, in Georgia, 
the good qualities of this afilicted people have always 
secured friends for them." 

The steamer was thronged from stem to stem by 
these at last happy exiles, and in most picturesque 
groups could be seen the children, with their bright 
faces and dresses of various colors. As the tug-boat 
from the shore approached within speaking distance. 
Job S. Gidley shouted, " Welcome, Doukhobors ! " 
and almost immediately the whole company on deck 
burst forth in singing one of their low, melodious 
Russian hymns, which, rendered into its English 
-equivalent by Prince Hilkov, reads: 




HON. JAS. A. SMART. 

Deputy Minister of the Interior. 



THE EMIGRATION. 191 

"Know all men^ God is with us. He has carried us through. 
We lift up our voices, and sing His praises. 
Let all people hear and join in our praises of the Almighty. 
They that planned our ruin did not succeed. 
We never feared them^ for God was with us and gave us 

strength. 
Our Lord had strength to save us; why should we fear? 
They that put their trust in Him are never forsaken. 
They that do not know Him now shall know Him hereafter. 
The light shines in the darkness and will dispel it." 

When this very touching expression of sincere 
thanksgiving was ended, Prince Hilkov, Deputy 
Minister Smart, and the two Friends, went on board 
the Lake Huron, and a most affecting scene followed. 
The joy on the part of those who knew the Prince 
was manifested by their thronging about and kissing 
him impetuously, until Joseph S. Elkinton knelt in 
prayer, when every head was uncovered, and a pro- 
found solemnity prevailed for a few minutes, in rec- 
ognition of the many mercies which had been so con- 
spicuously experienced by the exiles. The opportun- 
ity was brief, as the ship had not been " cleared " 
according to the quarantine regulations. The vis- 
itors soon retired, bidding the newcomers a " fare- 
well " as sincere as their welcome had been. 

r^g (Halifax) Morning Chronicle of that date 
said: "It was indeed"? pic iTTPfi^'I^Uy bight.— There was 
not a ripple on the water, the sun was shining bright- 
ly, and, as the two thousand strangers crowded the 
decks, the steamer presented the appearance of a 
huge excursion boat. The immigrants were well 
clad; that is, warmly clad. The men and boys wore 



192 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

goatskin coats and caps, while the women wore skirts 
of bright red or blue, heavy black jackets, and col- 
ored shawls as headdress." 

J^ T .^ Bulmer was appoin ted by a committee of 
workingmen to address the immigrants, and he told 
them, before leaving the vessel (Prince Hilkov in- 
terpreting) that Canada welcomed them as " men 
who wonld stand by their principles, no matter how 
much suffering it cost them," adding, " Peace will 
have her victories, and the same gentle force which 
caused you to throw down your guns in Europe or 
Asia will dismantle even the forts of Halifax. . . . 
On behalf of the workingmen of Canada I welcome 
you to Canada, and bid you Godspeed." 

Captain Evans gave the Doukhobors whom he 
brought to America the highest praise for order, 
cleanliness and industry, they having helped in the 
management of the vessel of their own accord. There 
were ten deaths on the voyage, — ^three very old per- 
sons, and seven very young children; also one birth 
and six marriages. 

The strangers went to St. John in order to take 
the cars for Manitoba. Some impressive scenes were 
re-enacted as they landed. Just as the steamship 
was being made fast to the pier at St. John, Alman- 
ofsky, who was one of their countrymen, addressed 
those on board in behalf of the people of Canada. 
He told them that the people of the Dominion of 
Canada truly welcomed them, and would be as broth- 
ers and sisters to them, and he hoped that they would 



THE EMIGRATION. 193 

prove worthy of their adopted home. The Doukho- 
bors were greatly pleased, listening to him most re- 
spectfully; and, when he concluded, they all knelt 
down on the deck of the vessel and bowed low their 
heads, giving thanks also vocally. The crowds on 
shore then cheered several times, to which the Rus- 
sians responded by a low bow and taking off their 
caps. 

Two old men were noticed by a reporter of the 
Montreal Daily Star to be deeply touched by this 
expression of good- will. He says : " I saw the large 
tears gather in their eyes and course down over their 
rugged countenances, furrowed with heavy lines, of 
the kind which bespoke little experience with human 
kindness. Quietly they uncovered their heads and 
bowed their gray hairs in solemn silence, to show 
they recognized the spirit of God working in the 
hearts of those who had so kindly welcomed them. 
So their religion taught them." 

The women of St. John, and other cities of the 
Dominion, had made considerable provision for the 
comfort of the immigrants while en route for their 
Western homes. Five or six trains, of eight or ten 
coaches each, were in readiness, with ample supplies 
for the journey, — ^greatly to the credit of the Can- 
adian. Pacific Railway. An eye-witness says: "It 
was a pleasure to see the well-trained children, even 
from the tot of two years to the child of nine or ten, 
take off the cap and bow politely on receipt of the 
present of eatables to each child as it disembarked. 



194 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

supplied bj the Women's Council.'' A valuable testi- 
mony is also given by the captain concerning these 
on shipboard; " They were ever on the alert for op- 
portunities to be of assistance to their elders, and 
were frequently observed in the steamer giving up 
warm positions to the older people. . . . 'No people, 
whether older or younger, could show greater con- 
sideration for others than did these Spirit- Wrestlers 
on the way out. The larger and stronger men re- 
fused to allow the older and weaker ones to under- 
take their share of the work that had to be done, or 
that was voluntarily taken up." On this vessel the 
six hundred and twenty-nine men ranged in age from 
twenty to eighty-five years, but most of them were 
between twenty-five and thirty-five years; while the 
women (six hundred and seventy-three in number) 
were generally under forty. The seven hundred and 
eighty children were mostly over &ve years of age. 

J^rince Hil kov, Joseph S. Elkinton and Job S. 
Gidley went by boat from Halifax to St. John with 
the colonists, and during that short trip some ten 
of the Doukhobor men and women were united in 
marriage. The ceremony is thus described by one 
on board at the time. " It was the simplest thing 
imaginable. It took place on the spar deck. The 
young men approached the young women of their 
choice, who were attended by their parents, and 
asked the ladies to become their wives, having first 
shaken them by the hand. The wooed ones con- 
sented, the young gentlemen kissed them, and it was 



THE EMIGRATIO:^. 195 

all over. But the brides' parents did not allow the 
newly-married couples to depart without a word of 
advice. The young couples had loved each other 
before they left Eussia. Under the arrangement?; 
made for the distribution of the immigrants in the 
E^orthwest they would have been separated in every 
instance, but for their marriage, before their arrival 
here. It was a happy thought, and no happier young 
people ever entered St. John than these newly- 
wedded ones." Leopold Soulerjitzky, a friend of 
Count Tolstoi, liad this company o± Uoukhobors in 
charge, and he had selected a number of the most 
capable young men to assist him during the voyage 
in relieving the captain and his crew. The five bride- 
grooms mentioned above were among these. 

The first contingent had scarcely been landed in 
the immigration buildings at Winnipeg, and else- 
where along the Canadian Pacific Railway, when the 
second steamship. Lake Superior, brought another 
two thousand to Halifax, on the 27th of the same 
month. The rati nf ^ount Leo Tolstoi. Count Sorb - 
ins Tolstoi, accom panied this party, and they were 
all detained some time in quarantine on account of 
one case of small-pox, which ended fatally during the 
passage from Batoum. On the 17th of Second month 
the embargo was raised, and the immigrants sent on 
to join their brethren on the prairies of the North- 
west Territory. Joseph S. Elkinton also went with 
these colonists from Halifax to St. John, holding 
meetings with them on shipboard. 



196 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

The "F-Hi f.^p n-f The (Pbiladelphia)^Henc? wr ote, 
under date of Second month 4th, 1899 :" We are'told 
that when the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony, having 
escaped the persecutions of their native country on 
account of their religion, had reached the coast of 
Massachusetts in the winter season, and had formed 
their settlement, they were approached by a native 
with the cheering cry, * Welcome, Englishmen ! ' 
Two hundred and seventy-nine years have now 
passed, when a migration of pilgrims of peace, on 
a far grander scale, and escaping a more murderous 
persecution, has reached our Atlantic coast from 
Russia, to be welcomed first by a native of the same 
Old Colony of Massachusetts, and member of a re- 
ligious people, who in their turn were persecuted, 
some of them also unto death, on both sides of the 
Atlantic, — a people who, by the passive resistance 
made by their Gospel of Peace, wore out the sword 
of religious persecution for America. 

" Who but a representative at once of the Quakers 
and of the old Pilgrim Colony, as his boat neared the 
two thousand Spirit- Wrestlers crowding the mighty 
ship, could more fittingly have sounded forth those 
living words, * Welcome, Doukhobors ! ' And who 
but a representative of William Penn's colony of the 
^ Holy Experiment ' of Peace, of his city founded in 
Brotherly Love, and of the very meeting-house lot 
left by Penn for the Gospel of Christ's Spirit, could 
with more historic appropriateness have been com- 
missioned by the Spirit, as he felt he was, to meet 



THE EMIGRATION. 197 

the exiles in a Saviour^s sympathy, and with bended 
knee, in that impressive scene on the ship's deck, to 
render devout thanksgiving and invoke upon the Pil- 
grims of the Universal Brotherhood the Divine 
Blessing, thus linking the religious Society of 
Friends with this historic advent and welcome ? '^ 

ji. Soulerjit zky said that when he read from the 
Bible to the two thousand Doukhobors (in whom he 
was particularly interested), they said: " That is 
true; that is good; that is just what we believe; just 
like our religion/' They also maintained that it was 
better to have the truths they had listened to in their 
hearts and heads, rather than in a book. And their 
expressions do impress one as coming from their 
hearts. 

When groups of these sturdy champions of Peace 
were gathered about Joseph S. Elkinton on the ves- 
sel, as they sailed from Halifax to St. John, Prince 
Hilkov interpreted for him. The depth of their re- 
ligious feeling and experience was very gratifying, 
and at times it was manifest that the gift of prophecy 
was possessed by some of them, the women in par- 
ticular speaking with power and dignity . The equal- 
ity of the sexes in religious matters is another point 
of resemblance betwe en the D oukhobors and the 
Society of Friends. 



Some forty Doukhobors who gathered in the cabin 
of the steamship spoke with appreciation of the visit 
to Russia of Stephen Grellet and William Allen, in 
1818, and they also expressed great satisfaction in 



198 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

the interest shown for them by members of the same 
Society at the present time, saving. _^^ We believe in 
Qhrist j , who sent you to ns." 

The Canadian (jrovernment 'Had provided some log 
buildings in the wilderness, but at this season it was 
difficult to reach them. Therefore, most of the four 



thousand immigrants were accommodated in the 
large immigration halls provided for colonists along 
the Canadian Pacific Eailway. An eye-witness at 
one of these buildings in Winnipeg said: " The Douk- 
hobors commenced to sing their psalms in that pecu- 
liarly plaintive manner which makes one feel like 
crying. The sensitive find it impossible to refrain 
from using a handkerchief, and during the closing 
ceremony many a hand was slipped into a pocket, and 
many a tear slyly wiped away." The hospitals of 
the Dominion received quite a number of those who 
were invalided from various causes, and provision 
was made, temporarily, for the support of all of the 
new settlers. One baker provided ^yq thousand 
loaves of bread. 

We can but contrast the fortunes of these mem- 
bers of the Universal Brotherhood with those of 
some forty-two of their brethren who were banished 
to the Siberian Province of Yakoutsk, in 18 97-' 9 8. 
After a year of great hardship, we learn that " their 
isolation from the civilized world, the wildness of 
the place, the severity of the climate, were not very 
much better than the situation of N^ansen on an ice- 
bound stretch of Arctic land, without his health and 



THE EMIGRATION. 199 

modern appliances for coping with the severity of na- 
ture. And yet, owing to untiring energy and cour- 
age, that band of noble-minded, though simple- 
hearted, men, much exhausted by previous impris- 
onment and trials, torn from their famiKes, contrived 
to establish a real outpost of civilization in a savage 
v,7ilderness.'' These exiles are aware of the emigra- 
tion of their brethren to Canada. Very naturally 
they manifest the greatest interest in emigration 
from Russia, and dream of being permitted to join 
their brethren. It is, however, very doubtful whether 
this permission will be granted soon, as they are all 
young or middle-aged men. The Czar's government 
seems to be firm in its efforts to enforce militarv ser- 
vice among them, or, if impossible to do that, to re- 
place it by exile for the same term — eighteen years. 
Besides these forty in i^orthern Siberia, there are 
sixty more in another province, for whom their fam- 
ilies and friends in Canada continually mourn. The 
Advocate of Peace for Second month, 1899, comment- 
ing editorially upon this arrival on our shores, said: 
" It is a part of the great struggle now going on to 
rid the civilized world of the curse and tyranny of 
militarism; a tyranny more cruel and heartless has 
never afflicted humanity. The system of conscrip- 
tion has extended itself until only under the flags of 
Great Britain and the United States, of all the great 
powers, is there any liberty of conscience left, so far 
as military service is concerned. And there are 
many Americans and British subjects who so little 



200 THE EXODUS FROM EUSSIA. 

understand and appreciate the real meaning of 
Anglo-Saxon civil and religious liberty, that they 
would set up forced military service in these coun- 
tries also. There is a steady effort being made on 
both sides of the Atlantic to do this. But this con- 
test with militarism must be carried on, not simply 
to save Anglo-Saxon civilization from its worst and 
most degrading form, but that it may be driven from 
every country in Europe, and all the peoples of the 
old world set free from its fetters. Anglo-Saxon 
freedom cannot be saved unless we can at the same 
time save the rest of the earth. It is a shame, for 
the description of which there is no sufficient ad- 
jective in the language, that, after nineteen centuries 
of Christianity, there should be any country on the 
globe calling itself Christian where an upright, in- 
dustrious. God-fearing people like the Doukhobors 
cannot live in security of life and property. Russia 
j^not the only military despotism. The Doukhobors 
could not live, without persecutToh, in Germany, or 
France, or Austria, or Italy." 

The colony of exiles who went to Cyprus f onnd the 
climate of that island poorly adapted to their habits, 
and, as a bout one hundred died within a few mont hs, 
there was much discontent among the colonists, and 
a general desire to go to Canada. M. A. Marriage 
Allen, an English Eriend, wrote under date of Third 
month 21st, 1899, that she had visited the settle- 
ments, and was very much pleased with their condi- 
tion, or rather the ability of the people to adapt 



THE EMIGRATION. 201 

themselves to the circumstances under which they la- 
bored, — at considerable disadvantage. The children 
seemed anxious to learn English. Wilson Sturge was 
invaluable to the colonists, and, after they went to 
Canada, he settled up their affairs most creditably. 
He died on his voyage home. 

Preparations were now set on foot to bring the one 
thousand survivors from Cyprus. The Lake Su- 
perior was again chartered, and William Bellows (son 
of John Bellows, of Gloucester, England) went to 
Larnaka, where he met with Arthur St. John, who 
had taken a very active interest in these emigrants 
from the inception of their emigration, visiting them 
in the Caucasus and following the fortunes of the 
first ship-load until they were settled in Canada. The 
re-embarkation of these exiles from Larnaka, Cyprus, 
was at once a most pathetic and a picturesque event. 
M. A. Marriage Allen describes the scene graphically 
under date of Fourth month 19th, 1898: "During 
the day some of the Pergamos Doukhobors arrived, 
and by the next evening over one thousand were 
camped in various groups. The nights were dry and 
mild, and for three days the authorities allowed them 
to stay there, make their fires and do their cooking 
on the quay, and all was so orderly. 

" On Sunday Wilson Sturge and I went up to their 
sunrise service. One hundred and fifty in * go-to- 
meeting ' clothes were assembled in the center of the 
square. After their hymn-chanting, hand-shaking, 
kisses of peace (this is a national custom on Easter 



202 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

Day, from Emperor to serf), and various bows, all 
performed in a most reverent way, their leaders 
came forward and tendered most hearty thanks to 
Wilson Sturge (their ' good grandfather,' as they call 
him) for his kind care and help during their stay in 
Cyprus. Then all prostrated themselves on the 
ground and dispersed. 

" The people seemed much affected at this, their 
last religious service, in the island where they leave 
so many of their loved ones in the silent grave." 

The voyage to Quebec was prosperous, and, with 
the exception of one who died on the way, all landed 
safely in that port. Leopold Soulerjitzky had this 
party also in charge. Joseph S. Elkinton was on 
hand, as before, to welcome them upon arrival, and 
Captain Taylor had him come upon the bridge to 
address the immigrants, who responded through an 
interpreter, expressing their appreciation of the sym- 
pathy and kindness manifested to them by the So- 
ciety of Friends. The captain also said he had be- 
come very much attached to the Doukhobors, and 
spoke with a feeling of sincere sympathy with them 
in their trials, both before embarking from Cyprus 
and while on the ocean. 

These colonists were promptly transported to 
Yorkton and Assiniboia, but the lateness of the sea- 
son, retarded by unusually heavy rains, did not allow 
of their getting at once upon the land allotted to 
them, and many of them being sick with malarial 
fever (brought from the Caucasus and Cyprus), their 



THE EMIGRATION. 203 

condition was rather pitiable for some time, while 
they were temporarily encamped in tents near York- 
ton. 

We now turn to the 2,278 Doukhobors (1,540 
adults and 738 children) who sailed from Batoum 
on the 12th of Fifth month, 1899, arriving at Quebec 
on the 6th of Sixth month following. This was the 
last of the " Larger Party " remaining in the Cau- 
casus, and these came from the Province of Kars. 
They had sold out their belongings, and so raised 
some $42,000 (of which $33,000 was paid by them 
for the steamer), beside the provisions required for 
the passage. These pilgrims lost five of their number 
while en route to America, and there were two births 
on board during that time. They were detained in 
quarantine at Quebec for more than three weeks, 
because of a case of small-pox. 

It was a disappointment both to Prince Hilkov 
and to Joseph S. Elkinton not to be allowed to speak 
with the newly-arrived colonists, but they accepted 
the situation, and journeyed westward, to see how 
those who had gone ahead were faring, in Manitoba 
and Assiniboia. They were accompanied by William 
Evans, a Friend from Philadelphia, who had taken 
a deep interest in the Doukhobors, and had acted as 
treasurer for the Doukhobor Committee of Philadel- 
phia Friends. Prince Hilkov had previously gone to 
the Prince Albert district of Saskatchewan to secure 
land for this party of Kars Doukhobors, and he very 
much wished to explain to them the reason why the 



204 



THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 



Canadian Government preferred to give them sec- 
tions situated some three hundred miles to the north- 
west from the other settlements in Assiniboia and 
Manitoba, where all of the previous arrivals had been 
located. 

The soil of the prairie in these sections of the 
Northwest Territory is one or two feet deep, consist- 
ing of a black vegetable loam, resting upon clay of 
great depth; when wet it is particularly sticky. A 
missionary told the writer that when he was travel- 
ing through this district, some twenty-five years be- 
fore, he overtook a Scotchman, who was wading 
through mud ankle deep. The first word addressed 
to the prospecting settler was one of commiseration 
for his lot. But it seemed very little appreciated, 
as the stranger forthwith plunged both hands into the 
liquid earth at his feet, and held up the dripping soil 
with evident satisfaction, protesting in his Gaelic dia- 
lect, " This is just the right kind of stuff to make 
bread out of." His would-be comforter, quickly ad- 
justing his sympathy to the attitude of his newly- 
found parishioner, promptly responded, " Then you 
are just the right kind of a man to settle here." 

The last contingent of the Universal Brotherhood 
were taken directly to their allotments, fifty miles 
south of the town of Prince Albert, early in the Sev- 
enth month, 1899, where more capacity and progress 
have been shown than at any of the other settle- 
ments. 

William Evans described the colony of Cyprus 



THE EMIGRATION. 205 

immigrants thus: " Upon awakening at Yorkton 
(where he, with Prince Hilkov and Joseph S. Elkin- 
ton, had arrived at midnight, the 13th of Sixth 
month), the first sight was the Cyprus conical tents, 
and others of various shapes, thickly dotting the prai- 
rie. In one roomy tent a sort of Russian stove had 
been constructed of stones and clay, with a circular j 
aperture for the kettle, and a sheet-iron drum at the 
rear to radiate the heat. The women and girls were 
clad in vestments of bright colors, generally red and 
yellow, but sometimes in part blue, and there was no 
attempt at tight lacing. Skirts by no means dragged 
on the ground. The women's heads were invariably 
covered with kerchiefs, of lighter color than the 
dress material. We were told that it is considered 
unseemly for women to be seen by men with uncov- 
ered heads. 

" Notwithstanding their total abstinence from flesh 
food, both men and women were of good stature and 
well developed muscularly, evidently able for work. 
The children seemed cheerful and lively, and won- 
derfully restrained, under parental care, from any 
display of selfishness or quarrelsomeness; but in no 
instance do I recall seeing a parent chide or correct 
a child. There seemed throughout the whole com- 
munity no evidence of unhappiness or of impatience, 
but the indications all were of religious restraint and 
of apparent thankfulness for release from a country 
where they were unable to carry out their convic- 
tions unmolested, and of hopefulness for the future, 



20^ THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

in tkeir newly-chosen land. In looking upon these 
people, I suppose L-Jiave never seen any who as 
a community have_come so near realizing the advice 
of the apostle, ^ leaving food and r aiment let u^ 
therewith conte nt?^^ 

Un this day (the weather being very fine) Joseph 
S. Elkinton requested the opportunity of meeting 
with the colonists in a compact company for religious 
service. Their gathering was a novel and truly in- 
teresting scene, and very typical of their orderly way 
of assembling. William Evans describes the occa- 
sion thus : " As they approached, the women were 
stationed in rows of perhaps twenty feet in length, 
one behind the other, at the south end of a rectangle. 
The boys and girls were placed in rows of perhaps 
forty feet in length, at right angles to the women — 
the older children behind the lesser. 

" The end of the rectangle opposite the women 
was left open, or unoccupied. Then the men stood in 
lines opposite the children, with the American strang- 
ers at the end next the women. After five or 
six hundred had thus assembled, and the chanting 
was ended, and after the visitors had addressed the 
company, they responded through Prince Hilkov. 
All knelt upon one knee and bowed their heads to the 
ground, and he explained that the bowing was not 
to man, but in acknowledgment of the blessing of 
the Divine Spirit, and to signify their entire assent 
to the spiritual truths that had been declared; and 
they also said that before they left Kussia they had 



THE EMIGRATION. 207 

been told there was a people in this country, called 
Quakers, who held spiritual views like their own, 
and that they were glad to be acquainted with them; 
and that they were thankful to this people, not only 
for helping them pecuniarily, but also for giving 
them their sympathy in a strange land. Their de- 
meanor and actions showed plainly the sincerity of 
their feeling and expression." 

William Evans continues: " Erom the beginning 
to the end of our interview there was no indication 
of listlessness or inattention, but a serious and earn- 
est entering into communion of feeling which was 
very remarkable. Finally, they asked through the 
Prince that our Society would intervene with the 
Czar for the release of their relatives who are ban- 
ished to Siberia; and here one of the most interest- 
ing parts of the whole deeply-impressive occasion 
manifested itself. Six matronly women left the line 
in which they stood, and advanced in front of us. 
These were, the Prince said, the mothers or relatives 
of some of the banished ones." After they were told 
that such an appeal had been already made to the 
Czar, and that the Society of Priends would do all 
in its power to secure their release, " the women 
quietly wiped their tears, and one, with noble fea- 
tures, said that they were the mothers of sons who 
were in banishment, and they earnestly hoped that 
our people would do what they could for their help. 
By this time such was the intensity of feeling that 
the regular ranks of the rectangle were broken, and 



208 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

the people pressed in close, iiiitil there was only a 
small circle clear, with the women in the center. We 
asked them to give us a list of all their people who 
were in Siberia, with their post-office addresses, 
which they readily undertook to do, and by next 
morning some two hundred names were handed to 
the Prince." 

Peter Jansen, of Jansen, I^ebraska, whose father 
was driven out of Russia some thirty-five years ago, 
because of his conscientious objection to the Russian 
Church, visited the Cyprus Doukhobors soon after 
they arrived at Yorkton. He says: " I asked a pleas- 
ant-featured man, ^ Do you think you will be able to 
get along in your new home ? ' He looked up, and 
the faith that was in him was depicted in his face 
when he answered, ^ The God who has selected this 
land for us, where we can worship Him according to 
the dictates of our consciences, will certainly not let 
us starve ! ' The tears were hard to keep back when 
an old mother came and said, ' I have two sons who 
were deported to Siberia because they would not 
serve in the army, and I am here alone; and I will 
ask the blessings of God upon thee day and night if 
thou wilt bring them over to me.' '' Peter Jansen 
adds : " I believe the Lord will take care of these 
His children, but we who believe in the Prince of 
Peace should be willing to act as His servants." 

Dr. Mercer, of the Lake Superior, was so inter- 
ested in the settlement of the Doukhobors in their 
new home that he obtained leave of the captain to 



THE EMIGRATION. 209 

accompany them to the Northwest Territory, and 
rendered them many valuable services. 

Joseph S. Elkinton and William Evans received 
the following letter from the Kars Doukhobors, at 
that time detained at the quarantine station near 
Quebec, in reply to a letter written to them. It was 
translated by Prince Hilkov: 

" 13th of Sixth month, 1899. 

" Dear Friends and Brothers: 

" Deeply glad were our hearts that faith in Christ 
made you participators of the wisdom of God, and 
therefore you felt with us in our heavy trials. 

" We believe that there are many kind people in 
the world, who, like shining lights, burn amidst the 
surrounding darkness. May the Lord save you, dear 
brothers, for the love which prompted you to come 
and meet us, as a people of the same faith in Christ, 
offering your life for your brethren and fellow-be- 
ings. May you reap a measure full of heavenly and 
earthly treasure from the almighty hand of our 
Heavenly Father. 

" It is truly grievous that it was not permitted to 
you to meet us, but we must not be troubled at this. 
Let us place our faith in God and His mercy, for He 
is the Eternal and Living King, and will arrange all 
in accordance with His holy will. 

" We pray the same Lord and all good people to 
forgive us our trespasses, by which we may have of- 



210 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

fended and grieved somebody ; and we pray you, dear 
friends, to transmit our heartfelt greetings to all 
brothers and sisters who have faith in Christ, the 
Saviour of our souls, who Kve in Philadelphia and 
the United States. We remain your loving brothers 
of the Christian Brotherhood, now living in quaran- 
tine on Grosse Isle. 

" Simeon Chernov, 

" Paul Planidin, 

" Simeon Vereschagin." 

About this time there was a lively debate in the 
Dominion House of Commons on the character of 
the immigrants coming in such numbers to Canada, 
and the Minister of the Interior felt called upon to 
defend the policy of the Government. After speak- 
ing of the testimony concerning their cleanliness, 
etc., given by the captains and conductors who had 
the Doukhobors in charge before reaching their 
Western home (where few had been willing to set- 
tle up to that time), he said: " In so far as the Douk- 
hobors are concerned, I have only this to say: I am 
altogether at one with my right honorable friend the 
Prime Minister, when he suggests that it is not a rea- 
son why we should keep people out of Canada be- 
cause they have conscientious objection to bearing 
arms. I think the House will not agree with the sug- 
gestion that because a man may have conscientious 
objections to bearing arms therefore he has not cour- 
age, therefore he has not those qualities which go to 



THE EMIGRATION. 



211 



make a good citizen. Sir, there is many a man who is 
ready to fight, and who has no courage at all; he has 
nothing in the sense of true courage. ... I do not 
believe that I myself or my honorable friend would 
go through what these Doukhobors have gone 
through for the sake of their convictions. I doubt 
if there are five men in this house who would show 
the moral courage, who would show the tenacity, who 
would show the fortitude which these people have 
shown for the purpose of preserving the faith which 
they believe to be the true faith." 



CHAPTER III. 

THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 

The Dominion government set aside some two 
hundred and seventy thousand, four hundred and 
eighty acres of prairie land lor the seven thousand 
three hundred and sixty-one Doukhobors (one thou- 
sand five hundred of these were men) who had taken 
refuge within its jurisdiction. The larger part of this 
tract was located near the junction of Manitoba and 
the ^N^orthwest Territories of Saskatchewan and As- 
siniboia, some seventy-five miles north of Yorkton. 
The most western settlement, on Duck Lake, is sepa- 
rated by three hundred miles from the former, and 
has about one-fifth of the entire number of villages. 

The homestead law s, known as the ^^ Three Years 
System,'' require every settler to reside six months 
of each year on his " quarter-secti on " of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres. Six months' " grace " is al- 



lowed those who " enter " their applications in the 
fall, while in the case of a foreigner, this is extended 
to a year. Fifteen acres must be under cultivation at 
the end of the third year, in order to " perfect " the 
title. If the homesteader fails to reside upon this 
quarter-section half of each year, or to " perfect " his 
entry by paying $10, he runs the risk of having an- 
other settler enter for the same, if the Land Depart- 
ment cancels the first entry. A settler cannot assign 
his prospective homestead, or any part of it, before 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 213 

receiving his patent, and the law provides that, even 
if he agrees to assign his homestead, or any part of 
it, before receiving his patent, the entry shall be for- 
feited, unless the Minister shall otherwise decide. 

This is intended to protect the settler against per- 
sons who might otherwise acquire his rights for some 
worthless consideration. If an entry is thus can- 
celed, the settler who has violated this law cannot 
obtain another homestead. 

These regulations have been given in some detail, 
because the greatest difficulties in the Doukhobor 
Settlement have arisen in connection with these Im- 
migration land laws, as we have already seen, be- 
cause of thepoukhobors' communist ic prefer ence 
to hold their landed property together" The Oana- 
diail "gOVStnment tuerelore issued a notice to these 
colonists that they must apply in severalty for their 
homesteads by the first of Fifth month, 1902, or 
their lands will be open for occupancy by other set- 
tlers. This has not been permitted, as the time has 
been extended a year. 

It is both reasonable and right that these colonists, 
in common with all who have received the benefits 
of such a liberal government, should be willing to 
submit to these legal requirements. As it is, how- 
ever, a matter of conscience with many of them, edu- 
cation and time, as well as patience, will be required 
to adjust these difficulties, without doing injustice to 
either party. 

The law permitting ' ' Settlers^ Effects '' to be car- 



214 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

ried at greatly reduced rates, was, through the cour- 
tesy of the Dominion and railway officials, taken ad- 
vantage of by the friends of the Doukhobors, who 
provided them with several carloads of food, cloth- 
ing, etc., during the winter of 1899-1900. 

Under the Customs Tariff of Canada, a bona fide 
settler may bring with him, free of duty, wearing 
apparel, household furniture, professional books, im- 
plements and tools of trade or occupation, which the 
settler has had in use for at least six months before 
removal to Canada. He can also take with him carts 
and vehicles and live stock, under certain limitations. 
Of course, these Russian Colonists had little to bring 
with them, after years of impoverishment, so pur- 
chases had to be made at once for the men, women and 
children. 

The ^^ntrea l Women^s Council interested them- 
selves very much in the Junior portion of these immi- 
grants. One who had the pleasure of distributing 
some gifts among them, writes: " It would make 
your heart glad to see the joy of the children as I 
lifted article after article out of the bag, and to see 
the look of expectancy on their faces. The slates 
and books are very much needed. The readers are 
quite necessary, f or the children are learning rapidly, 
and the older ones can read and write. . . . 

'he Doukhobors themselves do not make their 



wants known. T jiey are a gen tle, kind people, grate- 
ful for any little kindnesses shown them, and they 
deeply appreciate what has been done for them here. 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 215 

Some of their history is so sad. There is hardly a 
lamily Dut contains a father or a brother who has 
been in prison, and suffered frightful tortures. I 
have in mind several families whose fathers and 
mothers are exiled in Siberia, and a brave little fel- 
low named ^van Boynikov, one o f the brightest 
pupils, who wishes me to thank you for his top 
and book, told me to-day that his mother died 
heart-broken just before he left Russia, be- 
cause his father and brother could not come with 
him to Canada, for they are in confinement in 
mercury mines m ttiberia. inese people have been 
tried m the tire and not lound wanting. These sim- 
ple , u^ettered peasants can teach us lessons of he- 
roic sacrifice for the sake of the Truth. 

** Unlettered as they are, for only about three in 
one hundred can read, they possess true spiritual 
w isdom, that p uts many of us to shame. They have 
been much criticised here, owing to their peculiar 
religion. The fact is, they have hold of the very 
basis o f Christianity, the true Christ religion without 
creed, forms or dogma, and they exemplify it in their 
lives. May their example enter the hearts of our 
Canadian people, and their light shine for all the 
world." 

As an illustration of the practical way in which 
these exiles adapted themselves to the requirements 
of their new home, the picture shows a unique team 
of some twenty women drawing a plough through the 
prairie sod. This was done because the men of the 



216 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

colony went to work at once on the railroad, in order 
to get some money to defray the expenses of the 
community, and because they owned few, if any, 
oxen or horses at that time. Some one hundred 
acres were thus prepared for the wheat and other 
seeds, within a few weeks, without physical injury 
being sustained by those women, who were so ser- 
viceable in using their remarkable strength in this 
time of need. A matron would walk at the side of 
the plow to watch her younger sisters, lest they 
should over-exert themselves. There was some criti- 
cism expressed because of this noble effort on the 
part of the Doukhobor women, and, such is the per- 
versity of human nature, that criticism was circu- 
lated from one side of the Continent to the other, so 
that Joseph S. Elkinton thought it necessary to deny 
some of the charges made about the Doukhobor men 
imposing upon their wives and sisters. The (Phila- 
delphia) Pphlic Ledger of Seventh month 12th, 
1900, contained his rejoiMei* tO"'iti^ reprint of the" 



(SanFrancisco) Examiner^ s false statements, viz.: 
" Having met the four arrivals of the steamships 
bringing seven thousand of the Doukhobors to 
America, and having sailed with the first two steam- 
ships from Halifax to St. John, and witnessed the 
work of the men on the discharge of the cargoes and 
loading of the trains, and afterwards at their work in 
Manitoba and Assiniboia, I saw nothing to justify 
the expressions in the clippings alluded to, as arbi- 
trary, or domineering over the women; but what was 





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THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 217 

carried on, was done with propriety and dignity, in a 
peaceable, quiet way, with no apparent want of af- 
fection, but decidedly to the contrary. The state- 
ment that they are quite willing to exchange a 
woman for an ox or a horse is a base slander. 

" Where there is everything to do and very little 
means at command, men, women and children are 
compelled to do all they can to advance the general 
interest. . . . They had no horses or oxen upon ar- 
rival in Manitoba and Assiniboia, and very few of the 
villages, at this writing, have more than one or two 
teams; under these circumstances it was no disgrace 
for some of the plowing to be done by hand; as to 
their being yoked, the rope that drew the plow was 
knotted around the middle of a stick, which they 
could press forward as they walked, rather than pull 
by one hand on the rope. ... Their situation ap- 
peals strongly to the humane, as not one-half of them 
arrived in time for spring planting, and a severe 
frost, coming on earlier than usual, has blighted 
much that was planted.^' 

The superior abilities of the women were also dem- 
onstrated in the way they built their houses, even 
to plastering the walls with their own hands. 

Upon arrival at their several allotments the Douk- 
hobors at once constructed, in addition to those the 
Canadian government had previously built, log 
houses, with clay between the logs; some of these 
were half " dug-outs,'' while others were all above 
ground, and smoothly plastered on the inside. It 



218 THE EXODUS EKOM RUSSIA. 

was surprising to those who witnessed these women 
at work, to see how smoothly they finished the top 
coat of plaster with their bare hands, and what great 
deftness in manual labor of various kinds they ex- 
hibited. 

Dr. William Saunders, of the Experimental Agri- 
cultural Department of Canada, made a visit to the 
North Colony settlement at Thunder Hill shortly 
after its villages were first laid out. He reported 
their houses " substantially built of logs, and roofed 
with poles, on which prairie sod about four inches 
thick is laid, and the interstices filled with fine earth. 
The sides of the houses are well plastered on the ex- 
terior, with clay mixed with cut straw, and some- 
times on the inside with the same material. The 
furniture in the houses is all of their own make, and 
consists of a few rough stools to sit on, and higher 
benches which serve as tables. The beds are made 
of a series of poplar poles about six feet long and 
three or four inches in diameter, placed close to- 
gether along the wall. On these some hay is placed, 
and over this a piece of thick felt. Most of the peo- 
ple recline on this structure with their heads to the 
wall, feet outwards, using such bed-clothes as they 
can command. A few have feather beds, and cur- 
tains to divide the sleeping places into compartments. 
Most of the houses consist of one large room for liv- 
ing, cooking, eating and sleeping. The aim is to have 
in all their villages a house for each family, and their 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 219 

houses are being erected at varying distances, in two 
rows, with a wide street between them. . . . 

" In each house there is a Russian oven, which 
serves for the warming of the building and for cook- 
ing the food. Each village is provided with a steam 
bath house, in which steam is generated by pouring 
water on heated stones. In this way a profuse per- 
spiration is brought out, and the body is whisked 
briskly with a bunch of small branches of the mossy 
cup oak, the large leaves of which still hold tightly 
to the branches." " Godliness and cleanliness " ap- 
pears to be their living motto. The floors of their 
houses are made of earth beaten to a smooth, hard 
surface. Each room has a window or two and a door, 
although little provision was made for ventilation. 
Large iron kettles of the capacity of a barrel were 
used for laundry purposes, and a large bowl was the 
family dish, from which the vegetable soup was 
served. Wooden spoons are used. 

Two blacksmith shops had been promptly erected 
by the Doukhobors, and some farm wagons and ox 
yokes made. Short sections of trees, hollowed out 
and closed at one end, were used as tubs and kegs. 
All their clothing was made by themselves, and the 
e^mated cost of living was $2 a month per capita. 

it 'was about this time tiiat iLiliza H. Varney, a 
minister of the Society o± ± nends m (Janaaa, and 
Job S. Gidley, visited the Doukhobor Colonies. 
They were deeply impressed, not only with the cheer- 
fulness" ' uilfl^i ii'laay yiU" If UUllb, but alyu With their 



220 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

unusual powers to appropriate everything in their 
way for the purpose of improving their estate. Eliza 
H. Varney distributed medicines, which were much 
needed, and thus supplemented the self-sacrificing 
efforts of the Russian nurses, Vera Welistchkina, 
Sasha Satz, Marie Robitz and Anna de Carousa, who 
came over with the Doukhobors. She also minis- 
tered unto them spiritually. Under date of Seventh 
month 28th, 1899, she wrote: "Whilst we were at 
dinner, one of their women came to ask if it would 
disturb us if they sang in the large room. The in- 
terpreter said, ' 'No/ so they chanted all the time we 
were eating. After dinner we found that outside the 
doors they had collected a large number of children 
in a half circle, with the men and women at either 
end, and on stepping out all these children (one hun- 
dred and fifty or more) bowed down three times, in 
humble gratitude for what had been given for their 
benefit. Many of these children have the most open, 
kind-hearted faces I ever beheld." 

Just before leaving Selkirk, Job S. Gidley ad- 
dressed more than one thousand of the Doukhobors, 
who had not yet reached their prairie homes, and, 
Eliza Varney said, " he gave them excellent 
counsel, which they took very kindly, and 
they had their interpreter to thank us for our 
sympathy and words of comfort.'' As an in- 
stance of that spiritual communion which 
kindred souls can feel and enjoy together, even in 
the absence of a common language, she wrote to a 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY WILLIAM BELLOWS. 



Outside Bake-Ovens. The first structures erected by the Doukhobors 
upon their arrival at their settlements. 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 221 

friend about this visit: " We visited both hospitals 
(in Winnipeg), one for infants and one for adults, 
and in both of these prayer was offered, believing 
our heavenly Father would understand the feeble 
petition of one of his little ones, even if there was no 
interpreter to enable them to understand. God so 
carried that petition home to their hearts that they 
were tendered to tears, and kissed our hands in token 
of love and respect." 

Eose M. Osburn, who took a most active interest 
in these colonists from their first arrival in Canada, 
accompanied Eliza H. Varney and Job S. Gidley dur- 
ing this visit. She had taught some of the Doukho- 
bor children who first came to Winnipeg, and con- 
sidered them very apt scholars in learning the Eng- 
lish language. This was also the experience of Nel- 
lie Baker, who went to the settlement in Assiniboia 
a year later, with Eliza H. Yarney, for the purpose 
of starting a school for the children. The attention 
of Friends and others at this important period of 
their settlement in the ^N^orthwest Territory was 
fully appreciated by the Doukhobors. 

It may be stated before passing from this timely 
visit of Eliza H. Varney and Job S. Gidley, that they 
visited thirty-eight out of the forty-two villages be- 
longing to the IN^orth and South Colonies, eighty and 
fifty miles respectively, north of Yorkton, Assini- 
boia. They were accompanied by Ignace Almanov- 
sky. He had come out to Canada twelve years be- 
fore, having been repeatedly imprisoned in Russia 



222 THE EXODUS FEOM RUSSIA. 

for preaching the Gospel. His wife was an English 
woman, and both were good interpreters. 

This trip over the broken prairie and along trails 
that were easily lost, involved a great deal of exer- 
tion, patience and fortitude, especially when fording 
the rivers. On one occasion Eliza H. Varney sat for 
an hour or more after nightfall, in the middle of the 
Assiniboine River, with the water pouring over the 
l)ed of the carriage, not knowing whether they would 
get to the farther side, as their horses had refused to 
pull, and the rope attached to their vehicle had re- 
peatedly broken when those on the land attempted 
to pull them to the bank; yet she said she felt per- 
fectly calm through it all. 

The Western Su n (Brandon, Manitoba), of date 
]Srinth month i4th, 1899, ^OllLUlIled a very interest- 
ing report of Eliza H. Varney's experiences. It 
states that she found the dwellings of the Doukho- 
bors to be of three kinds. " Where there is timber, 
logs are used, and good, substantial homes are the re- 
sult. In places where no wood is available, sod? 
make a wonderfully neat and compact little house, 
considering the material from which it is made. One 
village, where neither timber of any size nor sod was 
procurable, had houses made in a remarkably ingeni- 
ous, but most laborious, way. Poplar sticks, five or 
six inches in diameter, were driven into the ground, 
one foot apart, to form an enclosure thirty by twenty 
feet, and in and out of these supports willow withes 
were tightly woven like baskets. The whole struc- 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY WILLIAM BELLOWS. 



Doukhobor ferries. 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 223 

ture, when completed, was plastered inside and out 
with the claj mixture, and, though done entirely by 
hand, presented as smooth a surface as if the trowel 
of a first-class plasterer had been at work. The clay 
for the mortar was prepared by the women in this 
way: A trench was dug, into which the earth and 
water and chopped grass were placed; then half a 
dozen of these stalwart sisters, with their skirts kilted 
up, trod the mortar until it was as smooth as paste, 
while another company of women carried it to the 
houses; here six or eight more put it on the walls of 
the dwellings.'' "The great ovens and chimneys 
of sun-dried bricks are seen everywhere, as well as 
the smooth floors of trodden sand." 

" At one of the many religious services held (by 
the Friends) with the Doukhobors, a letter from 
their exiled elder (Peter Yerigin) was read, in which 
he exhorted his people to remain firm in their belief, 
to remember always their God and their fathers' 
God, to teach their children to learn the Command- 
ments, and to read the glorious Psalms of David; but, 
above all, to remember to love their brethren. ^ He 
that dwelleth in love, dwelletli m (jrod anci God m 
Him.' Thev must not onlv love one another, but 
must love their enemi eis, * doing good to them that 
would de spitefully use tkem and persecute them.' " 

On another occasion a letter was read, stating that 
their elder, and other members of their Brotherhood, 
in Siberian exile, were to be sent to the sulphur 
mines in order to hasten their death. The mother 



224 THE EXODUS FEOM RUSSIA. 

and sister of Peter Yerigin were present when 
this was read, and ^^ the tearful pleadings of 
these women that their loved ones be not left to 
perish in prison were most pitiful to hear. Promises* 
were made that the Tsar would be approached, and 
the lives of these noble men saved if possible," and 
Eliza H. Varnej prayed that the Most High would 
soften the Tsar's heart and release them. 

Job S. Gidlej describes another meeting out on 
the open prairie, where the Doukhobors had gathered 
to meet with him and Eliza H. Varney. He said: 
" One must be void of feeling not to be touched by 
such a scene. Here was a meeting for worship held 
upon the prairie, under the canopy of heaven, where 
the Dispenser of manifold blessings seemed near at 
hand. It brought to mind thoughts of the simple 
way in which the early Christians performed their 
worship." 

The situation of the colonists at this time was criti- 
cal, because early frosts had cut off the crops which 
they had planted, and without assistance they would 
have suffered greatly. Some villages had scarcely 
any food in hand or in prospect. Friends of Phila- 
delphia took up the case in good earnest and held a 
public meeting, when a strong appeal was made by 
the Committee of their Meeting for Sufferings. 



* These promises were kept subsequently, but no discharge 
obtained. It is not knowTi certainly that these exiles were 
sent to the sulphur mines. 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 225 

Thirty thousand dollars was raised in a few weeks, 
and three carloads of food and clothing collected. 

The Friend of Tenth month 14th, issued about 
ten days after the above-named meeting was held, 
contained a stirring editorial, of which the following 
is a part: 

" The Doukhobors having escaped from their 
Pharaoh, who had tardily heard the words, ^ Let my 
people go,' witnessed the sea opened, by the minis- 
tration of Friends, for their passage to a strange 
shore, and have been left in the middle of a vast con- 
tinent and of a short summer, that could scarcely 
yield the beginning of sustenance for so great a mul- 
titude. 

" There they stand, remote from other popula- 
tions, in a land already stiffening with its six months' 
freezing; and when presently two weeks' prospect of 
bread is exhausted, starvation is said to stare some 
of the villages in the face, unless manna descend 
upon them from heaven through our hands. 

" Shall half of this modern Israel of Peace perish 
during the coming winter through indifference of the 
Friends of Peace ? It is deemed by judicious minds 
that such must be the rate of their perishing, unless 
we of our superfluity ^ cast in unto the offerings of 
God.' A living opportunity is now laid at our door, 
to prove before all coming history, how much our sin- 
cerity for the cause of peace is worth in dollars and 
cents. Inasmuch as we obediently do it for the will- 



226 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

ing martyrs and supporters of tlie cause, we do it 
unto the Prince of Peace Himself. 

" Should but a pound of com meal per day for 
each Doukhobor be furnished, to sustain life till an- 
other summer, it is estimated that $25,000 would be 
needed to cover the cost." 

Friends responded nobly to this appeal, and pro- 
visions were promptly forwarded to the colonists, 
where they were distributed in time to prevent them 
from starving. 

The Commissioner of Immigration, William F. 
McCreary, who had shown great interest in the Rus- 
sian exiles, and sympathy for them, ever since their 
arrival on Canadian soil, now proved himself their 
true friend, and with marked ability dispensed the 
supplies placed at his disposal from every quarter. 
His agent, James S. Crerar, at Yorkton, also ren- 
dered very valuable assistance. Indeed, the attitude 
and services of all the Dominion officials were most 
helpful during this period of colonization. A carload 
of sugar, four cars of corn meal, and one of rolled 
oats, with some carloads of potatoes, and one or more 
of onions (the latter purchased in Canada), were dis- 
tributed throughout the fifty-seven villages of the 
several colonies. Wool, yarn, leather and lamps 
were forwarded from Philadelphia, with tea and lin- 
seed oil, of which the Doukhobors are very fond. 
Three hundred spinning-wheels were also purchased, 
as well as forty-nine cows, and ten yoke of oxen. 
The gratitude expressed, both by men and women, 



f- E 



1^ 




THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 227 

when the cows were allotted, was reported by Cor- 
nelius Jansen as " truly touching." A car of sup- 
plies, intended especially for the sick, aged and 
younger children, was particularly appreciated by the 
recipients. 

May Fitz-Gibbon* (" Lally Bernard '0, of The 
(Toronto) Glohey advocated very fully and sympathet- 
ically the cause of these suffering colonists, after she 
had visited them in their homes; and, as has been 
previously noted, the women of Eastern Canada came 
to their rescue, as also their neighbors on the prairie, 
among whom AKred Hutchinson and his wife, with 
Robert and Elizabeth Buchanan, deserve special 
mention for their many services. 

Joseph S. Elkinton and William B. Harvey visited 
throughout the settlements during the Eleventh 
month, 1899, to ascertain their condition and needs, 
and to oversee the distribution of the supplies for- 
warded. They also accompanied some of the last 
contingent of immigrants to their allotments on the 
prairie. After their return a very carefully-pre- 
pared inventory of the possessions and vital statistics 
of each village was printed and circulated. 

John Ashworth, of Manchester, England, was 
making his first tour of the Doukhobor villages about 
this time, and these Friends compared notes with 
him. The problem of transportation was perhaps 
the most pressing at that time, as all the goods de- 



« (t 



The Canadian Doukhobor Settlements," a series of letters 
by "Lally Bernard." — William Briggs, Toronto. 



228 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

livered at Yorkton had to be hauled from forty to 
eighty miles in wagons, of which there were com- 
paratively few available. It required a team one 
week to make a trip to and from the l^orth Colony. 
Most of the Doukhobor men were employed on rail- 
roads at this time, as they could save more money at 
this work than in any other way, at that season of 
the year. 

The following letter was handed to Joseph S. 
Elkinton and William B. Harvey by representative 
Doukhobors: 

" To the Friends, from their friends, the Doukho- 
bors. God have mercy upon you for your care, 
love and generosity ! 

" Five years ago, the Spirit of God inspired our 
people, and we learned the way of Truth, the way 
which our ancestors followed, but we lost it. When 
we again tried to follow that way of Truth, the peo- 
ple of different opinions began to oppress and perse- 
cute us, and we were scattered like a flock of sheep 
that have lost their shepherd. The labor of our 
hands was destroyed, and the fruits of our efforts of 
many years were taken away from us and given to 
others. 

" We were a small flock, and the persecutors a 
legion ; and they laid their hands on us, and we did 
not defend ourselves. 

" Privations and heavy labor exhausted us, and we 
died from sickness. Then God inspired you to help 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 229 

US, and you (being) used to attend to the voice of 
God, came to us. 

" You clothed us, you dressed our wounds, com- 
forted and encouraged us. Then, when you saw that 
our oppressors did not stop persecuting us, you pro- 
tected us, and under your protection we found the 
way out of the land of oppression and slavery, to that 
of freedom and activity. And you continue to show 
us your brotherly love, seeing no end to the work 
that our Lord God inspired you with. 

" You are constantly studying our needs, and your 
efforts to satisfy our needs are ceaseless. Kow, what 
shall we do, not to seem ungrateful ? How could we 
repay your generosity, care and love ? The deeds of 
kindness cannot be repaid by men, but there is a 
Creator, who does not leave without reward a single 
cup offered to the thirsty, and He will never leave 
you unrewarded for all your goodness, which He 
Himself inspired you with. 

" God have mercy upon you, for your care, love 
and generosity ! 

" For the Doukhobors' people, signed, 

" Vassili Potapov, 
" Ivan Kjrukov, 
" Alexandee Bodyansky.^^ 

The Dominion !N"ational Council of Women did 
their part nobly at this time of need. Early in 1900 
two carloads of supplies were sent from Montreal, 
bearing some fifty spinning-wheels, fifteen pieces of 



230 THE EXODUS EROM RUSSIA. 

heavy flannel, twelve hand-looms, with eighty box 
stoves, as also carving and metal-beating tools, to the 
colonists. The Friends of Philadelphia supple- 
mented this shipment with two htindred spinning- 
wheels, $1,600 worth of wool, and $3,700 worth of 
garden and other seeds, all of which were much ap- 
preciated. 

A Kussian lady, Anna de Carousa, was so im- 
pressed with the religious and moral qualities of the 
Doukhobors while in Cyprus, where she resided, that 
she accompanied them to their Canadian home, and 
rendered invaluable services as interpreter, and dis- 
tributor of the above gifts to these Russian immi- 
grants. In this connection, a co-laborer (" Lally Ber- 
nard ") says: "The amount of work that this frail 
and gently-nurtured woman performs for her beloved 
Doukhobors, is simply astonishing. She is quite un- 
accustomed to a cold climate, and yet she resolutely 
remains in a tiny frame hotel at Yorkton, her pen 
and offices as interpreter being ceaselessly employed 
on their behalf." * 

Frederick Leonhardt, a German, exiled from Rus- 
sia ten years since, was also a very sympathetic 
helper in many ways. Coming from his home in Da- 
kota to meet the newly-arrived immigrants, he as- 
sisted them in locating their villages and in planting 
their crops. His services as interpreter for the 
Friends and others have been mentioned elsewhere. 

* The (Toronto) QloU of Second month 3d, 1900. 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 231 

About the first of 1900 he was commissioned by the 
Canadian government to travel throughout the 
Doukhobor villages, to ascertain their condition and 
needs in all particulars. 

It was only through the united effort of all inter- 
ested in the Doukhobors that they escaped starvation 
at this time. The Duck Lake Settlement, in Sas- 
katchewan, near Prince Albert, had expended their 
resources, although they had considerable more with 
which to leave Russia than was the case with most of 
their co-religionists. They have very seldom asked 
for aid, and only the greatest need would have com- 
pelled them now to say : " Last autumn we prepared 
ourselves with two bags of flour for each soul, but 
just now we have little left. It is very hard for us; 
we have no kruppa (meaning oats, barley, etc.), 
neither potatoes, oil nor butter. Our children are 
getting sick, but we have nothing to nourish them 
with. We have neither milk nor eggs, nor can we 
get them. We have received some sugar and wool 
from our dear brothers, the Quakers. May the Lord 
bless them and give them long life in this world for 
their goodness to our people. . . . 

'^ There are some of us who have nothing at all. 
We have not even got our daily bread. We feel bad 
to ask from other people, but our great need compels 
us to stretch out our hand. So we turn to you with 
tears, if you have any means to help us, do it as 
quick as possible, for which we will continually bless 
you. This terrible persecution has made us so poor." 



232 THE EXODUS FKOM RUSSIA. 

Several hundred of the Doukhobor men — in fact, 
all that were able-bodied — sought work upon the rail- 
roads that were then being built in Canada, and the 
testimony of one of the railroad contractors (N'eil 
Keiths) by whom they were employed, is highly ap- 
preciative of their industry and economy and kind- 
ness to all, including their horses. They sent all their 
earnings to their families in the colonies. 

The houses, for the most part built and plastered 
by the Doukhobor women, afforded ample protection 
against the cold, but the clay sides and sod roofs 
scarcely had opportunity to dry before the winter 
set in, and the hoar-frost could be seen standing out 
upon the inside of their walls. This was calculated to 
induce rheumatism, and many suffered therefrom, 
but the mortality was remarkably low considering all 
the circumstances. 

Herbert Archer, who came from England to assist 
in settling these colonists, lived through this winter 
in the N^orth Colony, and did what he could in finding 
employment on the railroad for the men, with some 
success, but he reported a decided difference between 
the progress of the N^orth Colony and that of the 
South Colony, where there was less co-operation, 
economy and health among their several village com- 
munities. Some of the latter became so dissatisfied 
as to go to California — prospecting for a future home 
— but these came back in the course of a few months, 
much to the relief of their best friends. About this 
time (Second month of 1900) the Doukhobor Com- 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 233 

mittee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting sent an epistle 
of encouragement and counsel to all of their com- 
munities. This was met by a hearty response on 
their part, as the following letter shows. It was 
signed by the Secretary of the Committee of the 
!N"orth Colony, and reads: " We had the happiness to 
receive the dear letter to us, sent by you, of Second 
month 14th this year. We are very much pleased 
with your letter which we received; for which we 
are heartily and feelingly grateful to you for your 
instruction, as it is the truth. We are thankful to 
the good people who have delivered us from bondage, 
and brought us to this country. We are happy, not 
being in fear of oppression. !N^ot a soul of the ^N^orth- 
ern Colonies desires leaving the free land of Canada. 
We are praying unto God our Lord that He may not 
deprive us of His heavenly mercy, and send us good 
crops this coming year, to enable us, a little, at least, 
to gain strength and energy, and cease to feed on the 
toil of others. Of course this depends on the will of 
God. 

" We received through the Committees of the 
Southern Colonies forty-one spinning-wheels for our 
!N^orthern District, as well as other articles. 

" May the Lord bless you for all the kind deeds 
you have bestowed upon us. We greet you all, dear 
brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

" (From) the Committee of the jN'orthern Colony 



234 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

of the Christian Society of the Universal Brother- 
hood, as well as (from) all our brothers and sisters. 

" Simon Kibun. 
" Village VosnesenieJ^ 

Three or four carloads of dried fruit were sent by 
interested friends in California, and some cows were 
purchased and distributed where most needed, so a 
little variety was added to their too meagre vegetable 
diet. Thus the scurvy, which had appeared in several 
villages, because of insufficient nourishment, abated, 
as also the prevalence of sore eyes and bad sores from 
the same cause. 

These gifts brought out much expression on the 
part of the recipients. One poor man who had been 
in exile for two years, and had lost all his property, 
" and there," as he says, " got cold and took severe 
malaria," and through that lost his health, writes to 
Joseph S. Elkinton: 

" Kirilofka, April 15th. 

" May the Lord bless your great work to us, your 
brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace and grace 
be unto the workers and followers of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, remembering the commandment of our Lord 
before His crucifixion. Our dear and never-to-be- 
forgotten friends and brethren and sisters and your 
small children (some of whom had contributed to 
Doukhobor needs), we greet you all with a loving 



THE CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. 235 

heart, and with best wishes for eternal happiness in 
the Heavenly Kingdom, seeing the Lord face to face. 
May the Lord bless a hundred-fold your great benevo- 
lence to us, poor, worn-out strangers. Our love and 
thankfulness to all kind benefactors." Then (after 
reporting the several articles of diet and clothing and 
seeds which had come to their village) he continues: 
" All this we have divided to each soul in our village 
alike. For all this we heartily thank you, and may 
the Lord save you, because you do not leave us with- 
out assistance in our need, and count us as your 
brethren. 

" We pray and ask our Lord to keep you in healthy 
and our little children, with tears, send up praise to 
God. God hear our prayer and that of our children, 
and may He provide for your kind people in His 
heavenly kingdom. Dear friends, we wish you all 
grace from our Lord. To all our brothers and sisters 
from the community of Kirilovka. 

" Your brother, 

" Ivan !N^imanichin." 

The dear old grandmother, Anastasia Verigin* 
some eighty-five years of age, after expressing her 
gratitude for the favors received, says : " From my 
loved son, Peter Verigin, I have lately received a let- 
ter which was very dear to us, the first letter (from 
our exiled brethren) we received in Canada. He is 
alive and waiting the time when the Lord will grant 



236 THE EXODUS FROM RUSSIA. 

them liberty." Naming ^ve other sons in exile, she 
adds: " They tell us they are very lonesome for us, 
and pray the Lord we may see one another again face 
to face." 

In the Sixth month of 1900, Jonathan E. Khoads, 
of Philadelphia, a minister of the Society of 
Friends, felt a religious concern to visit the Doukho- 
bors in all their communities, and he was accom- 
panied by his friend, Joseph S, Elkinton. 



5ri)^ Bouftliohors in Eussta* 



CHAPTER I. 

NATIONAL RELIGIOUS CHAEACTEB. 

Before entering upon the early history of the 
Doukhojwrs it will be helpful to take a glance at the 
national r eligious chara cter, as this both affords an 
interesting field lor study and burnishes an explana- 
tion of much of the superstition, fanaticism and lov- 
able simplicity of the race. 

From the beginning of the Christian era the Rus- 
sian Slav has been known to be decidedly religious, 
by whatever form he may have expressed his feeling. 
For centuries before the introduction of Christianity 
he professed highly developed nature-worship. His 
supreme deity was represented by the sky. The sun, 
the thunderbolt and fire were also regarded with awe, 
and many minor deities had a place in his system. 
Without any temples or ritual, these sons of the for- 
est and of the steppe worshiped in the open, upon 
some hill or at a shrine made sacred to Rerun, who 
hurled the thunderbolt. No priest deluded or 
robbed them, while the chief performed the ecclesi- 
astical functions. Life after death was provided for 
by placing food and weapons in the graves of their 
departed friends. 

The patriarchal custom of the father having ab- 
solute control of the household, which continues to 
this day, did not destroy a kind-hearted hospitality or 
an intense individualism. 



240 THE DOIJKHOBOES IN RUSSIA. 

In those early days, as now, tkey were mostly en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits, although skilled in 
making iron tools and weapons. The migratory in- 
stinct was strong among them, and soon brought 
them into contact with the Finns on the north and 
the Tartars on the south and east of their country, 
and this fusion with their neighbors gave them a 
solidity of character, a power of endurance and per- 
severance, which they did not originally possess, 
_ Prinz e _Ylad^mir ("98,0-1015^ i ntroduced Christi- 
anity, of the Greek form, to these pioneers of the 
Greater Russia of to-day, and forbade pagan worship 
among his people. The sudden transition was not ac- 
complished, however, without opposition, and, as has 
always happened when a belief has been forced upon 
an unwilling people, compromise became necessary, 
and the attributes of some of the pagan deities were 
attached to the Christian saints. 

Tradition says that men, women and children were 
assembled on the cliffs at Kiev and compelled to wit- 
ness the humiliation of their gods, which were cast 
into the Dnieper. After this the multitudes were 
commanded to descend into the river, where they 
were baptized, and transformed by the words of the 
priest and the force of Greek ritual into Christians. 

The blending of pagan and Greek conceptions is 
illustrated in its simplicity and crudeness, by a Tu- 
ranian prayer, such as the following: " Look here. 
O Nicholas, god ! Perhaps my neighbor, little 
Michael, has been slandering me to you, or perhaps 



NATIONAL RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. 241 

he will do so. If he does, don't believe him. I have 
done him no harm and wish him none. He is a worth- 
less boaster and a babbler. He does not really honor 
you, and merely plays the hypocrite. But I honor 
you from my heart, and, behold ! I place a taper be- 
fore you." 

By thus obtaining their religious and secular ideas 
from Constantinople, the Russians cut off those op- 
portunities of reform and enlightenment which the 
western culture would have brought them during the 
period of the Renaissance. While this was particu- 
larly unfortunate, it accounts for some of their most 
peculiar and interesting characteristics. 

There was something in the Greek ceremonial that 
was fascinating alike to the Slav, the Finn and the 
Tartar, and even in its perverted presentation this 
form of Christianity was some improvement over 
the paganism it supplanted. It brought a higher so- 
cial order, and elevated the domestic condition by 
increasing the respect shown to women. The rights 
of children were also recognized, and slaves received 
rather more generous treatment at the hands of their 
masters. 

One can find in the Russian character, from the 
earliest period, much that might have developed into 
the highest type of enlightened Christianity, and the 
ever-reviving protest against formality, to be found 
in every age and among every class of that nation, is 
one of the most promising evidences of the possi- 
bility of casting off the yoke of priestly domination. 



CHAPTER II. 

TRADITION AND EARLY HISTORY. 

William Allen, of London, when visiting Russia 
with Stephen Grell et, in 1 ^18, said the Minister of 
the Interior, General Djnnkolesky, gave them good 
reason for supposing that originally ,J^ ^eJ)oukhobors 
from the followers of John Huss. But there is 



so little certamtj m tnevery s^rairrreeords concern- 
ing their rise, that we prefer to believe, according to 
their own tradition, that they sprang Irorh thrBe 
brothers, CossacK s or lli^ Doil, who, tliiuugh the 
teaching of the Spirit, and a "carefu^"p5nisal of the 
IsTew Testament, were led away from the ceremonies 
of the Russian Church to worship God in spirit and 
in truth. " It is quite useless, however,'' as one of 
their own countrymen, T. Abramov, truly observes, 
^^ to discuss the question as to whether such and such 
a religious idea comes from within a nation or from 
without, from the Quakers or from some one else; as 
when once an idea begins to spread it must undergo 
a long and imperceptible assimilation and reproduc- 
tion in the minds of the people at large, and will 
therefore undoubtedly be looked upon as quite an 
original idea, incorporating all the characteristic fea- 
tures of the people among whom it has spread." 

It would be too distressing, as well as difficult, to 
narrate the many persecutions of this people, yet 
their endurance and heroic fortitude under all the 



EARLY HISTORY. 243 

adverse conditions which the Russian Government 
has imposed npon them for more than a century, can 
best be appreciated by citing some particular in- 
stances on record. 

Ill 1797, Andrei Tolstaev and his wife were tried 
because ot their aaiierence to the Doukhobor prin- 
ciples, and after being punished with the knout, and 
having their nostrils cut off — (this inhuman punish- 
ment was frequently inflicted on dissenters) — they 
were sentenced to hard labor in the Government of 
Irkutsk. This was about twenty years after the Cos- 
sacks of the Don, who had first embraced the same 
faith, fell under the ban of the ecclesiastical law as 
heretics. The renowned Senator Lapukhin wrote, 
in 1806: "No sect has, up to this time, been so 
cruelly persecuted as the Doukhobortsi, and this is 
certainly not because they are the most harmful. 
They have been tortured in various ways, and whole 
families have been sentenced to hard labor and con- 
finement in the most cruel prisons. 

" Some were confined in cells in which one could 
not stand upright, nor lie down at full length. This 
was boastingly told me by one of the officers at a 
place where they were confined. 

" Every procurator and general, on the recom- 
mendation of the governor of a province, promul- 
gated a ukase for banishing whole families to various 
places for settlement, or for hard labor; and many 
families were thus expelled." 

As a sample of such an edict, issued at the end of 



244 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

the eighteenth century, some thirty-four Doukho- 
bors, after prolonged sufferings during the investi- 
gation made by their accusers, received their sen- 
tence in these words : " As the same prisoners re- 
main inflexible to suggestion and persuasion, in or- 
der to guard men from like superstition in the fu- 
ture, and also to retaliate upon them for their re- 
nunciation of the Church, her sacraments and saints, 
they shall receive, each man, thirty strokes of the 
knout, and each woman forty strokes of the lash pub- 
licly. The Doukhobor, Jacob Laktev's daughter, 
Katrina, and Ivan Shalayev's daughter, ^N'astasia, as 
minors, are, in accordance with the ukase of May 
2d, 1765, to be whipped with rods. After all these 
criminals have been thus punished they are to be 
banished to Siberia, their goods are to be confiscated 
and sold by public auction, and the money sent to 
the treasury office in Perekop, to be entered to the 
account of public revenue; the carrying out of which 
sentence is to devolve upon the police court of 
Perekop." 

The higher criminal court, to which this case came 
up from the district court, altered the sentence as 
follows: " The prisoners convicted of Doukhobortsi 
heresy are to be put in irons without punishment, 
and sent to work perpetually in the mines, at Eka- 
terinburg, Siberia, excepting the younger children. 
The bringing up of the children under ten years of 
age in the faith of the Greek Orthodox Church is to 



EAELY HISTORY. 245 

devolve upon the major of the town or of the parish, 
together with the priests." 

Some thirty-one Doukhobors from another dis- 
trict were similarly sentenced in 1799, and in 1800 
a uhase reads : " Everybody who shall be contacted 
of belonging to the sect of Doukhobortsi shall be 
condemned to life-long hard labor." 

Alexander I. was, however, graciously disposed to 
restore to tliem their rights, after his minister, La- 
pukhin, had investigated the civil and other disabili- 
ties of this sorely persecuted sect, and some of them 
came back from the places of their banishment. 

They conversed with Lapukhin on friendly terms, 
and he petitioned the Emperor on their behalf for a 
place of settlement apart from the Greek Orthodox 
Russians. This was granted, with permission to emi- 
grate to " The Milky Waters " in the Melitopol dis- 
trict of the lauris goveri^e nt (near the Crimea), 
where each emigrant received about foriy-hve acres' 
of land. Other privileges were also granted, such as 
exemption from taxation, for Alexander seemed 
genuinely interested in their welfare. Thus some 
thousands eventually congregated just north of the 
Crimea and remained there until 1840. The authori- 
ties were recommended to leave the Doukhobors in 
peace unless they displayed " an open disobedience 
to the legal authority." They were not to be con- 
victed as criminals on account of their opinions, and 
the clergy were ordered to stay away from them. 

I n 1807. the Doukhobors still in Siberia were ac- 



246 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

cused of " seditious acts by openly declaring their 
beliefs/' so the Governor-General was ordered to 
place the able-bodied men in military service. It is 
interesting to note about this time (1807) the first 
instance of refusal to bear arms on the part of the 
Doukhobors engaged in the first Turkish War. 
These men threw away their arms in the midst of 
the fighting, while two Cossacks, who refused to obey 
the military authorities, were sentenced to death. 
This sentence was afterwards commuted to impris- 
onment for life. 

In 1809 the privates of the Kiev regiment, who 
were Doukhobors, refused to receive ammunition 
and provisions, or to perform military service, and 
they were sent to work in the Siberian factories. A 
peasant, Simeon Matrossov, given up by his landlord 
to military service, refused to take the oath, and 
would not serve in the ranks. This was in 1817, and 
because of his refusal to take the oath, the minis- 
terial committee ordered that " Doukhobortsi should 
be taken into military service without being com- 
pelled to swear,'' which order was confirmed by the 
Council of State in 1820. 

In 1811 a petition was made to the Czar by four 
thousand Doukhobors, who declared that because 
they were " oppressed everywhere, and in every 
way," they would be glad to settle on the right side 
of the Danube, or on the left, in territory " recently 
acquired from the Ottoman Porte " ; but this was not 
allowed. 



EARLY HISTORY. 247 

THE MILKY WATERS COLONY. 

■■I ll mmu mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmii'*!' !' " • * " — 

Some details of this colony may be of interest. 
There were nine villages in this settlement, situated 
along the Eiver Molotchna and its estuary. The 
central villag^e was calle d Terpenie (patien'ceT In it 
sat the parish assembly. In it too was the orphan 
house. It was a large wooden building, surrounded 
by a park, containing fruit and forest trees, a brook 
and two fountains. This house was called " Zion '' 
by the Doukhobors. A few men and women lived in 
it. Some girls who had become church singers, after 
having learned their psalms by heart, also lodged 
there. 

The households generally were in a flourishing 
condition, thanks to the abundance of land, com- 
munal husbandry, and the enterprising spirit of the 
Doukhobors with regard to agricultural improve- 
ments. There were 13,^^500 acres of arable land in 
±^ljs trflot sn that each man had rather more than 
forty-five acres, iiieir farming was all'TJifiH'i^'lll (iUlll^ 
mon, and the produce dividedinto equal parts. They 

.1 i Hi iiii HOT I 

also erected storehouses for food in case of famine, 
^ ^yeral indus tries were successfully introduced, 

"-"^'' ' XJ l . ViMM BWBBWaWWW^»Wi a ii « i i i ii i » i iiy i I Mil mmmmmmm-mmmygummmammmmm ii i « n 

such as the manuiacture oi sashes and woolen nats. 
Improvements in agriculture were adopted from 
their Mennonite neighbors, while the other Russians 
remained quite indifferent to such improvements. 
Many of their houses were built in German fashion, 
and even the dress of the German colonists was 
adopted to some extent, while their Greek Orthodox 



248 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

neighbors continued to wear their former worn-out 

" zeepoon " (a peasant's coat) and " lapti " (bast 

-" I I - I f" 

snoesJV 

As to the moral side of the life of the Doukhobors 

in this community, there is strong testimony from 




commercial o bligations were punctually discharged. 
They were active, indefatigable in labor and indus- 
trious in agriculture, and, being sober and well-liv- 
ing men, they were more independent than others " 
of their countrymen. 

Physically, the men were mostly tall and the 
wo nlM jiJ'yLiy.j^il i Llll^ /jailM/iLiOli 11 mky m ih g r a ce 
to comm"enf \ip6n the splendid physique of both men 
and women, who for a century have been able, with- 
out doctors or medicine, to keep healthier and 
stronger than most other races, even while under the 
most unfavorable circumstances for living comfort- 
ably. 

I n 1808 the Chamb erlain Zherebtzov visited the 

■^ ' J ' . ' " ' li nt Iimmi0mm»tm mi i « nim i n i i ^i , i i nnnini i . ^ , | i,| , „ n . n .!,, 

Crimea to examme mto their condition, and he lound 
them " well settled on their land, with sufficient live 
stock, and leading a sober and industrious life, and so 
far from complaining, they only expressed their 
gratitude to the government for the quietness they 
enjoyed.'' 

this gpt.t.1f^77]f>^t,^ ^n , 1818^ an d was so pleased with their 
prosperity that he " ordered the prompt return to 



EARLY HISTORY. 249 

their native land of all the banished Doukhobortsi, 
for whom their co-religionists had petitioned." 
" But/' continues the same historian, " even the per- 
sonal patronage of Alexander I. could not alter the 
behavior of the second and lower class members of 
the administration and clergy, who, partly from sel- 
fishness, partly from ignorance, have always op- 
pressed by every means in their power, these peace- 
able and industrious sectarians." 

Their pretext for these persecutions was the fact 
that the " Doukhobortsi converted Greek Orthodox 
men to their sect." It is uncertain whether the 
Doukhobortsi " converted " or the Greek Orthodox 
were carried away by the example of their moral life, 
and by an appreciation of the value of community life 
as developed in their villages. The latter supposition 
is the more probable, because, as is generally known, 
the great mass of the proselytes of any new teaching 
always adopt it without propaganda, solely in conse- 
quence of the moral influence and purer life of the 
followers of the new teaching. And besides, as we 
shall see later on, upon investigations being insti- 
tuted, no Doukhobor propaganda was discovered. Be 
this as it may, the officials and clergy, taking advan- 
tage of the fact that the beliefs of the Doukhobors 
were spreading among the Greek Orthodox in the 
neighborhood of Milky Waters, committed the most 
cruel acts of violence with impunity. I^or were 
these so-called zealots of Greek Orthodoxy particu- 
lar as to the means they employed, making use of the 



250 THE DOUKHOBOBS IN RUSSIA. 

men who had been expelled from the Donkhobor 
community for theft, drunkenness and profligacy. 
This practice is now common in relation to other 
sects also, as t he Stundist s, Molokans and others. In 
consequence of the evidence of these notoriously 121*'^,^^ 
moral men, they made " incursions into the villages 
of the Doukhobortsi, arrested the first men they met, 
and kept them imprisoned for years." 



There is a chapter of considerable interest, ex- 
plaining the friendship between Alexander I. and the 
Society of Friends, pleasantly told ^,^^j^j[ane Benson, 
in her ^^ Quaker Pioneers in Rus sia." We may per- 
haps discern strong indications of l^uaker influence 
in this emperor's enlightened treatment of his Douk- 
hobor subjects. 

In the spring of 1814 the E mperor visited Lon- 
don, and attended a Friends' meeting for worship. 
William Allen, as a representative of that Society, 
had been summoned to meet the Royal party on a 
First-day morning, and was informed that the Em- 
peror wished to see a Quaker meeting. As the hour 
was already past when they usually assembled, Wil- 
liam Allen said, " Then it is quite plain we must go 
to the nearest, which is Westminster, and lose no 
time, otherwise it may be broken up." 

The Emperor, the young duke of Oldenburg, the 
Ambassador, the King of Wurtemburg, and Count 
Lieven, were seated facing the assembly, " and the 



EARLY HISTORY. 251 

whole party conducted themselves with the greatest 
seriousness/' 

They sat in silence for fifteen minutes, and then 
three " testimonies '' were delivered by the Friends, 
one of which made such an impression upon the Em- 
peror that he desired to ^e John Wilkin son, one of 
the speakers, and William Allen, in a private mter- 
view next day. Stephen Grellet, a Philadelphia 
Friend, was also present, and reported a very pleas- 
ant hour's informal conversation, which he " thought 
had been appreciated by them all." 

The questions the Emperor asked referred gen- 
erally to the realities of every-day life. He liked 
our principles, he said, so far as he had heard them, 
but he had the wisdom to recognize the great dis- 
tance that often exists between preaching and prac- 
tice. He liked the meeting he had attended, and now 
he wanted to visit a Friend's house. 

Subsequently, as he was about to leave England, 
two Friends, E'athaniel Hickman and his wife, were 
seen standing at the door of their home at a little 
distance from the road. The Emperor stopped his 
carriage, got out, and courteously inquired of them if 
they belonged to the people commonly called 
Quakers. 

On receiving a reply in the affirmative he next 
asked leave for himself and sister to enter the house, 
which, of course, was granted. They stayed some 
time, looking over it, taking refreshment, and telling 
their host and hostess, to whom it was news, of their 



252 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN RUSSIA. 

attending a meeting, and of their interviews with 
members of the Society, in London. Here his favor- 
able opinion of Friends was confirmed. The farm 
and house were well cared for and orderly, and he 
did not forget his impressions when the time came 
for making use of them. 

Three years later (1817) Alexander I. sent to Eng- 
land for a member of the Society of Friends to come 
to Russia to cultivate certain bog lands in the neigh- 
borhood of St. Petersburg. 

The information was spread throughout the meet- 
ings of the Society, and a prompt response came from 
Sheffield. Daniel Wheeler, a convinced Friend and 
acceptable minister among them, told his fellow- 
members that he had felt for some time previously 
that it would be right for him to go to Russia. 

His friends could only regretfully confess that he 
was especially qualified for the position to be filled, 
and pass on his offer, which was gladly accepted by 
the Emperor. 

He had had considerable experience in farming, 
and had remarkable success in the difficult task which 
he now undertook of redeeming for agricultural pur- 
poses the spongy morass, " covered with a white moss 
to the depth, on an average, of about sixteen inches, 
with cowberry and other bog plants, small shrubs 
and young fir trees," with the roots and trunks of a 
primeval forest underneath all. 

There he labored for fifteen years, preaching by 
the example of a holy and industrious life, and occa- 



EARLY HISTORY. 253 

sionally visited by the Emperor, with whom he had 
the most cordial relations. 

The visit o f Step hen Grellet and William Allen, 
in 1819, to the Doukhobors, then residing m 6Y lleiaP ' 
the Crimean colony, was a notable event, still remem- 
bered by Ivan Mahortov (the patriarch of the Cana- 
dian colonists), and related by him to recent visitors, 
after the lapse of eighty years, and after much of the 
following prophecy had been fulfilled. Stephen Grel- 
let told them that if they were faithful to their re- 
ligious convictions they would be exiled and finally 
banished from their native land after they had been 
robbed, imprisoned and sorely persecuted, in some 
instances even unto death, and that when they were 
settled in that foreign country, among a people of a 
different language, they would be visited by mem- 
bers of his Society, and then they would prosper. 

As Stephen Grellet^s Journal contains an import- 
ant passage in referen ce to these dissenters from the 
Orthodox Gr eek Church, which has led some to 
query whether they were Orthodox Christians, it 
might be well to say once for all, that t hey revolted 

^i ff id^'^ Kf ^^^ ^^^P "^^5J^JP ^^ ^^^ Russian db urch" 
so radically as to place the emphasis of their belief 
upon the Spirit, as their infallible guide. An infalli- 
ble Church, an infallible Book, or an infallible 
Spirit, represent the bases of Christian belief, and 
professing Christendom still gives abundant evidence 
of the untenable positions which the first two assume. 



254 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

It is indeed strange that so good and spiritual a 
man as Stephen Grellet did not perceive that the 
Doukhobors were only stating their foundation 
principle, when they gave the pre-eminence to the 
Spirit of Truth, rather than to the outward author- 
ity of the Scriptures (invaluable as these are). In 
like manner they put the emphasis upon the indwell- 
ing Spirit of Christ rather than upon His historical 
appearance, important as this was and is to our sal- 
vation. They do believe in Jesus Christ as the 



lY GO t 



Saviour of misT r^^B swasrh^conJes^ion ot their 
elders since ^oming to America, and so far as they 
are a ble to j^kad th ey value the Bible. How other- 
wise can we account for iheir memorizing so much 
of the Scriptures, which has gone on for generations ? 
Stephen Grellet himself says: " They said they met 
together to sing the Psalms of David." He also 
gives a graphic account of their mode of worship, 
which is retained to this day: " On a spacious spot of 
ground out of doors, they all stood, forming a large 
circle; all the men on the left hand of the old man 
(about ninety years of age and ' a chief ' among 
them), and the women on his right. The children of 
both sexes formed the opposite side of the circle. 
They were all cleanly dressed. An old woman was 
next to the old man. She began by singing what 
they called a Psalm (these are partly from the Scrip- 
tures of the Old and E'ew Testaments and partly 
their own composition). The other women 
joined in it. Then the man next to the old 



EARLY HISTORY. 255 

man, taking his hand, stepped in front of 
him; each bowed down very low to the 
other three times, and then twice to the woman, 
who returned the salute. That man resum- 
ing his place, the one next to him performed the 
same ceremony to the old man and to the woman. 
Then by turns all the others, even the boys, came 
and kissed three times, the one in the circle above 
him, instead of bowing. When the men and boys 
had accomplished this, the women did the same to 
each other; then the girls, the singing continuing 
the whole time. It took them nearly an hour to per- 
form this round of bowing and kissing. Then the old 
woman, in a fluent manner, uttered what they called 
a prayer, and their worship ended." 

All this ceremony evidently did not appeal to 
Stephen Grellet, for he says : " 'No seriousness ap- 
peared over them at any time " ; whereas the sol- 
emnity and sincerity of their worship, as witnessed 
by those Friends who have visited them in Canada, 
has been very impressive, although the ceremony is 
somewhat tedious. We may hope that if they leave 
off some of their ceremoniousness they will lose 
nothing of their fervency of spirit. Their custom of 
bowing is an expression of reverence for the Divine 
l^ature or Spirit in man. However much this sect — 
in common with most others one hundred and fifty 
years old — has lapsed at times from its primitive 
spirituality, the fires of persecution have eventually 
in good measure purified its membership. That 



256 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

a people with so few outward advantages should re- 
tain so large a portion of their original simplicity of 
character and beautiful devotion to high spiritual 
conceptions, based upon the love of God, is a most 
hopeful sign of the possibilities of the coming of His 
kingdom of peace and righteousness on the earth. 

THE CAUCASIAN EXILE. 

The story of Evangeline and her exiled country- 
men was re-enacted in the removal of this thriftv 
and devout people from their homes on the "Milky 
Waters " to the Caucasus. 

In 1819 the Ministerial Committee decided that 
" Doukhobortsi and Molokani should not be elected 
to public offices, while those already elected should 
be dismissed "; with a heavy tax imposed upon the 
whole community for their release from such ser- 
vice. Two years later we find a Caucasian chief, who 
had some 2,500 Doukhobors in his district, advising 
the Central Government that all their families be 
dispersed among the Russian villages, and that chil- 
dren be separated from their parents, " that thus the 
exhortations and example of the clergymen might 
influence them to embrace the Orthodox religion." 
This was literally carried out in that very locality 
seventy-five years afterward, and even Prince Hil- 
kov's children were violently taken from him within 
the last decade and placed with members of the Rus- 
sian Church. The Stundists also suffered from the 
same cruel separations at this time. 



■I 



EAELY HISTORY. 257 

There was evidently a determination on the part 
of those in authority to dispossess the Crimean Col- 
ony, and transplant them with all their co-religion- 
ists to the Caucasus, for the chairman of the law de- 
partment of the State Council (Pashkov) complained 
in 1824 that " the Doukhobortsi are striving to de- 
stroy everything on earth that is dear to a true son 
of the Church, the throne and the fatherland," and 
he suggested dispersing all of the " obnoxious sect " 
throughout the Caucasus. This ministerial decision 
was confirmed by Nicholas I., in 1826, and literally 
carried out fifteen years later. The Cossacks of the 
Don who had embraced the faith were the first to be 
transported to that inhospitable region, where they 
were brought into close contact with the fiercest 
hillsmen, for the avowed purpose of compelling them 
to defend themselves, their property and families, 
by force, and so voluntarily to deny their own teach- 
ing. Besides this they were obliged to bear the name 
and duties of Cossacks, and to live along the line of 
the frontier fortresses. 

While these followers of the Prince of Peace were 
being put to the test under such trying conditions, 
their brethren in and near the Crimea were forbid- 
den to leave their villages under any pretense, with- 
out the knowledge of the police, and hence they could 
not market their produce as had previously been 
their custom. Thus they became wholly dependent 
upon the Greek Orthodox middlemen, who took 
every advantage of them. 



258 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

In 1826 the Minister Lanskoi proposed that these 
and similar sectarians should be sent to Western Si- 
beria, while the propagators of heresy should be ex- 
iled to the eastern side of that vast domain. This was 
inflicted, however, upon only such men as were un- 
able for active military service in the Caucasian 
corps, and these soldiers were to remain in the army 
until death. They got neither furlough nor leave to 
retire, unless they embraced Orthodoxy, in which 
case they received many privileges. These severe 
measures only strengthened the resolution of the 
faithful, and the Government was practically de- 
feated in its own purpose. 

In the course of a decade another move was made 
to extinguish this ever-increasing sect. They were 
forbidden to profess their religion publicly. Their 
assemblies were then prohibited, and, until they left 
their fatherland, they continued to be dispersed vio- 
lently at any time, either by the police or clergy, 
while those arrested at such times were confined in 
" places of the bug '' (untidy rooms where prisoners 
are kept), or in cold village cells that are never 
heated. 

How similar these actions seem to those we read 
of in England during the seventeenth century, when 
Friends, with other dissenters, were carried off to 
prison, where many of them died, for no other of- 
fense than having declared " the Truth," as it ap- 
peared to them. 

To those who have studied the history of persecu- 



EARLY HISTORY. 259 

tion in the Christian Church, whether inflicted by 
non-Christians or by their fellow believers, one of 
two results has invariably followed, from the days of 
Xero to the present time: either men welcome mar- 
tyrdom or regard heresy as a virtue, while yielding 
passive submission to their oppressors. Thus we find 
many of these Russian sectarians irritated until they 
had an almost fanatical desire to " suffer for the 
faith," while others so far complied with the requisi- 
tions of the State Church as to be registered " Ortho- 
dox," though secretly adhering to their heretical 
opinions. Happy will be the day and the people 
when true toleration shall prevail in any community, 
as William Penn designed it should, in that set- 
tlement which he so aptly called his " holy experi- 
ment," on the banks of the Delaware. Count Tolstoi 
has been writing for years, and in every way endeav- 
oring to inculcate liberty of conscience and toleration 
alike in State and Church. His work thus far has 
apparently resulted only in his own excommunica- 
tion. The Russian Government still endeavors to 
coerce its subjects into adopting the unscientific and 
un-Christian conceptions of a semi-barbarous civiKza- 
tion and mediaeval theology. 

In 1835 passports were forbidden to the wives of 
those Doukhobors and other dissenters who were 
taken for military service in the Caucasus, xne od- 
ject being to prevent them from communicating with 
their Orthodox neighbors, and so propagating their 
errors. The same year all such " specially per- 



260 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

nicioTis" sects as the Spirit Wrestlers were pro- 
hibited from joining any town community in Russia, 
except in Transcaucasia. This was a great depriva- 
tion, as citizens registered in towns or cities have 
many more privileges in that country than those who 
are registered only as peasants or village residents. 

However, these restrictive and oppressive measures 
were insignificant in comparison with a ukase issued 
about the same time, whereby those sectarians who 
had been transported to Transcaucasia were forbid- 
den to return to Central Russia. This ukase also 
confined the Doukhobors to seven Caucasian towns, 
without the opportunity of visiting their fellow 
exiles elsewhere, even in the same territory, unless 
they carried a passport defining minutely the object 
af their visit. But all these hindrances did not pre- 
vent them from prospering in a material way, so 
they literally turn ed the wilderness into a garden, 

'**'****l'*'*''Tt*'"'**'**"*"*"*'''**''"T™'*'*H'"^^ II I mrrrriM-iiiniiiliTi-iim miiMlii 

and m the course oi a tew years became again com- 
mrativelv co mff^rf^ CTe""" '"" i "" ' ""**''W« i "" i rniiiiiMwjii MwwiwMMWB 

iSii^enSaecree^^nFortir^ 1836 that all 
" the Doukhobortsi settled in Siberia were, in the 
event of their spreading their beliefs, to be removed 
to a remote part of that country, and those con- 
demned to hard labor were to be sent to the mines 
at Kerchinsk," having their terms lengthened. A 
year later their brethren who were sentenced to 
military service in the Caucasus were ordered to be 
sent to the regiments quartered in Siberia, and those 
unfit for service to be settled there. 



EAELY HISTORY. 261 

In 1839 a new measure, specially designed to im- 
poverish the Doukhobors and Molokans, was passed, 
by which it was illegal for them to acquire property 
in land, situated more than thirty versts from their 
place of residence. But- this was a slight affliction 
compared to the decision by the Government to 
transport the whole population settled on the Milky 
Waters in the Melitopol district, just north of the 
Crimea, to the cold and inhospitable mountains of 
the Caucasus. 

Whatever could have inrlnppfi "]S[j^|in1flg T tn au- 
thorize so heartless a ^ ^j ^vp.fitmeiit of ten or twelve 
fhmifl^T^^^ ni |ijfi_:^jj^ggt in offensiv e, moral' and mdus- 
trious subjects, is beyond conception, or at least be- 
yond satisfactory explanation. But the facts are 
these, as related by Madame Filiberte,* who ob- 
tained her information from old inhabitants of Me- 
litopol. A police officer, whose extortions became in- 
tolerable to the Doukhobors, was objected to at last 
by them, and he forthwith brought to the Central 
Government a charge against the whole community. 
" The irritated official used every means in his power 
to blacken the character of his victims in the eyes 
of th e Governor-General, Prince Vorontzov, accus- 
ing th^^^^'an^^nmeso^wnich they were, ac- 
cording to the evidence of reliable men, quite inno- 



* This was written in 1870, when this deportation and dev- 
astation of 1843-'45 wHvS still fresh in the memory of those 
"who witnessed it, twenty-five or thirty years before. 



262 THE DOUKHOBOES IN RUSSIA. 

cent. The result was the expulsion of the entire 
population from their homes to a far-away land." 

The Imperial order, signed in 1 839, read s: "All 
the Doukhobortsi shall be removecRroi^molotchna 
Voda (The Milky Waters) to the Transcaucasian 
Provinces. '^ This edict was announced to them by 
the Governor-General, and the deportation began at 
once, and lasted through four years. The account of 
their removal is thus vividly portrayed by T. Abra- 
mov: "It was a depressing picture — the expul- 
sion of the Doukhobortsi from their homes. The 
whole property, acquired by long years of toil, was 
sold for almost nothing, the houses abandoned, the 
fields given up. 

" On parting from the land, which for so 
many years had fed them, the Doukhobortsi women 
kneeled and pressed to her their breasts; they kissed 
her, and, sobbing, stretched their hands to heaven 
and sang mournful psalms. But the earth, to which 
they pressed their breasts, and the men, who should 
have heard them, all remained deaf to their sorrow." 

This people, who but a year ago were wealthy, 
were now removed to the Persian frontier, where 
they were continually subjected to robbery at the 
hands of the Tartars. 

The Government tried to win over the emigrants 
by allowing all who were ready to join the Orthodox 
Church to remain in their old homes. Only twenty- 
seven out of twelve thousand agreed to these condi- 
tions. " Banished to a strange land, where the soil, 



EAELY HISTOKY. 203 

climate and conditions of life were quite new and 
unknown to them, surrounded bv hostile mountain 
tribes, and precluded, bv their religious principles, 
from using arms even in self-defense, the Doukho- 
bortsi seemed condemned to perish without leaving 
a remnant. But such is the strength of their com- 
munal principle, which forms the basis of the life of 
this commimitv, that in spite of continual suffeiing 
from invasion, change of climate and fevers, they at 
last succeeded, not only in adapting themselves to 
local conditions, but even in reviving the trade of 
the province and becoming the most prosperous sec- 
tion of the Transcaucasian population.'' 

The moral influence of the Doukhobors was so 
generally recognized throughout the Caucasus, that 
their absence came to be regretted by the Govern- 
ment itself. After the last Russo-Turkish war the 
Government actuallv solicited them to move into the 
newly-acquired district of Kars, to ci^dlize the Mo- 
hammedans. These new Mohammedan neighbors 
soon made friends with them, concluding that they 
were not Christians, for, said they, " the Christians 
always fight."'' 

'* Such is,'- says Abramov, " the bitter irony of 
history upon the oppressive measures directed against 
the Doukhobortsi." *' And these persecutions," says 
Count Tolstoi, " as is always the case, when they are 
endured 'svith the Christian meekness shown by the 
Doukhobortsi, produce a result the very opposite of 
that intended by the persecutors. 



264 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

" People wish to hide the fire which has appeared 
in the forest, and to extinguish it; they press it to 
the earth with whatever comes to hand— leaves, 
grass and wood — but the flame bums more and more 
fiercely, and its light spreads farther and farther." 



CHAPTER in. 

THE FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 

Aylmer Maude, in his interesting chapter (in 
"Tolstoi and His Problems") on this long-persecuted 
people, says, very truly, " A turning-point in the his- 
tory of the Doukhobors was reached in the early 
years of the nineteenth century, when the members 
of the sect, scattered over the length and breadth of 
Russia, were allowed to come together and form one 
community [on the Milky Waters of the Crimea]. 
From being a religious sect, held together by unity 
of opinions and beliefs, anxious to propagate those 
views among their neighbors, and obliged to adjust 
their lives and occupations to a diversity of circum- 
stances and local conditions, the Doukhobors became 
an industrial and economic community, no longer 
persecuted for their theoretical beliefs. 

" When a sect thus becomes a community, the in- 
terest shifts to a considerable extent from the ques- 
tion, What did they believe? to the question, How 
did they live ? They cease to be propagandists, and 
become engaged in the welfare of their own commun- 
ity and the maintenance of their own religion. Their 
opinions seem to have undergone little change during 
the remainder of the century, so that a statement of 
what they believed a hundred years ago may pass, 
almost unmodified, for a statement of what most of 
them believe to-day. 



266 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

" Then, as now, different individuals and different 
groups would express themselves variously, yet al- 
most all would show a united front on matters on 
which they differed from the Orthodox Russian 
Church. 

" The difficulty of describing the faith of a sect 
composed of illiterate peasants, who produced no 
books, and whose propaganda was carried on by word 
of mouth, and for the most part secretly, would b© 
very great but for Orest IsTovitsky's book (first pub- 
lished in 1832), and certain State documents on file 
at St. Petersburg, to which we have had access. As 
these papers, found among the archives of the em- 
pire, contain some clear typical statements of belief, 
at first hand, they are introduced here as the oldest 
and most reliable known to the present writer. It is 
gratifying also to find the appreciation which the 
Doukhobors express in their letter to the British and 
Foreign Bible Society for the Bibles supplied to them 
in 1815, and to know that the opinion formed by the 
Society's worthy agent, Robert Pinkerton, who vis- 
ited some of them in that year, agrees so well with 
their character seventy-five years later." 

The account of his visit is here subjoined: 

" We went forty miles to the north of Wiborg to 
see a famous waterfall, and then fell in with a colony 
of Doukhobortsi, from the Cossack country, consist- 
ing of about ninety persons. From all we could learn 
concerning them they are truly a pious, intelligent 



^ 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 267 

people, well reported by all around them. We had 
a long conversation with one of them, who himself 
could not read, but who has a more intimate acquaint- 
ance with the Scriptures than many I have met with. 
He answered all our questions in the language of 
Scripture, and explained some texts to us in a manner 
which would have done honor to an Oxford or Cam- 
bridge divine. These poor, forgotten people had not 
a Bible among them — (their persecutors had taken 
these away from them) — ^nor indeed a book of any 
kind, although some of them could read. We fur- 
nished them with some [Bibles]. I most heartily 
wish you had seen how his countenance brightened 
when we told him of the Bible Society and what has 
been done for the extended promotion of the Re- 
deemer's kingdom. He could not believe for joy and 
wonder. ^ ^o person,' said he, ' has ever told us of 
these things before.' " 

After Robert Pinkerton's visit, the following letter 
from some of the Doukhobors was addressed to the 
Bible Society: 

" We, the undernamed, make known that we have 
received the most precious and divine gift of seven 
copies of the Holy Scriptures from the Bible Society, 
according to our desire. We account it our duty to 
return thanks to God for His unsearchable mercy 
and condescension to us in having put it into the 
hearts of the members of the Society thus to 
strengthen mankind against sin. We present our 



268 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN EUSSIA. 

ardent petition to the Society, that they would unite 
with us in thanksgiving to the Almighty God, who 
has bestowed upon them the spirit of Light and Wis- 
dom and Grace, to lead us by the right knowledge 
of HimseK, from the path of ignorance into the way 
of truth and salvation. We offer up our prayers in 
union with you for the life of our great monarch, 
Alexander, and for his brethren and the allies. May 
they who love his life live as pillars of the world, and 
may their days be as the days of heaven, because they 
are called to do the work of God. May the Lord 
of Hosts help them, and preserve them from all their 
enemies, that righteousness and peace may abound 
in their days, and may the Lord number them among 
His elect forever and ever. Along with this we send 
each of us, the undernamed, according to our prom- 
ise, two roubles in aid of the Bible Society, — ^in all 
twenty roubles from nine peasants." 

The following official reports, taken from State 
papers in St. Petersburg, are valuable, as represent- 
ing the principles of the Doukhobors from the point 
of view of an opponent : 

" To his Excellency the General Governor of Kar- 
kov: — 
" Sir: Michael Stchirov, Ainkie and Timothy Su- 
harev, sent by your Excellency from the vicinity of 
Karkov, have been admonished by Innokenty, Rector 
of the !N^evsky Seminary and the Archimandrite. 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 269 

The conversation which took place between them I 
forward to you along with this letter. 

^^ This sect has been known to me s ince 1768. Th en 
I admonished them, and succeeded in turning several 
of them to the Church, but on their returning home 
they again fell into their former errors. Since I be- 
came Archbishop of St. Petersburgh I have also ad- 
monished some of the Don Kossacks, but they re- 
mained obstinate. Their obstinacy is founded on en- 
thusiasm. All demonstration that is presented to 
them they despise, saying that God is present in their 
souls, and He instructs them; how then shall they 
hearken to a man ? 

" They have such exalted ideas of their own holi- 
ness that they respect that man only in whom they 
see the image of God; that is, perfect holiness. They 
say that every one of them may be a prophet or an 
apostle, and therefore they are zealous promoters of 
their own sect. They make the sacraments consist 
only in a spiritual acceptance of them, and therefore 
reject infant baptism. The opinions held by them 
not only establish equality, but also exclude the dis- 
tinction of ruler and subject. Such opinions are on 
that account the more dangerous, that they may be- 
come attractive to the peasantry; the truth of this 
Germany has experienced. 

" Their origin is to be sought for among the Ana- 
l^ptists or Quakers. I know the course ol their* 
opinion, and we cannot rest assured that they will 
desist from spreading abroad this evil. 



<( 



270 THE DOUKHOBOES IN RUSSIA. 

" These are my thoughts, which I have conceived 
it my duty to communicate to your Excellency. 

" With sincere respects, I am, etc., 

" Gabriel, 
Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburgh. 
fiMay 12, 1792." 



A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE RECTOR OF THE NEVSKY 

SEMINARY OF ST. PETERSBURG, ARCHIMANDRITE 

INNOKENTY, AND ONE OF THREE OF THE SECT 

CALLED DOUKHOBORTSI : MICHAEL STCHIROV, 

AINKIE AND TIMOTHY SUHA- 

REV, IN MAY, 1792. 

Archimandrite. — By what way did you come into 
this state that people confine you, as one dangerous to 
society ? 

Douhhohorisi. — By the malice of persecutors. 

A. — What is the reason of their persecuting you ? 

D. — ^Because it is said that all who desire to live 
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 

A. — Who is it that you call your persecutors ? 

B. — Those who threw me into prison and bound 
me in fetters. 

A. — How dare you in this way speak evil of the 
established government, founded and acting on prin- 
ciples of Christian piety, which deprives none of their 
liberty except such as are disturbers of the public 
peace and prosperity ? 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 271 

D. — There is no other government but God's, who 
rules over the hearts of kings and men; but God does 
not bind in fetters, neither does He command those 
to be persecuted v^ho will not give His glory unto anv 
other, and who dwell in peace and in perfect love, 
and in the service of each other. 

A. — What does that signify, " who will not give 
His glory unto any other " ; whom other ? 

D. — Read the second commandment and you will 
know. 

A. — By this I observe you mean to reflect censure 
on those who worship before the images of the 
Saviour and His saints ? 

D. — He hath placed His image in our souls. Again 
it is said that those who worship Him must worship 
Him in spirit and in truth. 

A. — From this it is evident that you have brought 
yourself into your present condition by falling into 
error, ill understanding piety, and entertaining opin- 
ions hurtful to the faith and to your country. 

D. — ^It is not true. 

A. — How? Do you not err when you think that 
there are powers that be which exist in opposition to 
the will of God ? — for " there is no power but of 
God " ; — or that that government persecutes piety 
which is appointed to restrain and correct the diso- 
bedient and unruly ? — ^for " he is the minister of God, 
a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth 
evil." 

D. — What evil do we do? !N'one. 



272 THE DOFKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

A. — Do you not hurt the faith by your false rea- 
sonings concerning the holy ordinances, and by your 
blind zeal against God, like the Jews of old, whose 
zeal was not according to knowledge ? 

D. — Let knowledge remain with you, only do not 
touch us who live in peace, pay the taxes, do harm 
to no one, and respect and obey earthly government. 

A. — ^But perhaps your paying the taxes, harming 
no one, and obeying earthly government are only the 
effect of necessity, and the weakness of your power; 
while your peace and love respect those only who 
are of your opinion ? 

D. — Construe as you choose. 

A. — At least it is far from being disagreeable to 
you, I suppose, to behold your society increasing ? 

D. — We desire good unto all men, and that all 
may be saved and come to the knowledge of the 
truth. 

A. — Leave off your studied secrecy and evasive 
and dubious answers. Explain and reveal to me your 
opinions candidly, as unto a man who has nothing in 
view but to find out Truth. 

D. — ^I understand you, because that same spirit 
of truth which enlightens us in things respecting 
faith and life assists us also in discovering affecta- 
tion and deceit in every man; but, in order to get 
free of your importunity, and with boldness to 
preach the true faith, I shall answer your questions 
as I am able. 

A, — By what way, — by the assistance of others, or 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 273 

by the use of your own powers only, — did you obtain 
this spirit of truth? 

D. — He is near our hearts, and therefore no as- 
sistance is necessary. A sincere desire and ardent 
prayer only are required. 

A. — At least you ground yourself on the Word of 
God? 

D. — I do ground myself on it. 

A. — But the Word of God teaches us that God 
has committed the true faith and the dispensing of 
her ordinance and instruction in piety to certain per- 
sons, chosen and ordained to this purpose ; — " accord- 
ing to the grace of God given unto me, as a wise mas- 
ter-builder, I have laid the foundation." 

D. — True. Such were our deputies who were sent 
here in 1767 and 1769. But what did the spirit of 
persecution and of wrath do to them? Some were 
consigned to be soldiers, and others were sent into 
exile. 

A. — You doubtless understand by those deputies 
well-meaning people like yourself ? 

D.— Yes. 

A. — But you and people like you, though good 
people, cannot be either miaisters or teachers of the 
Holy Faith. 

D.— Why ? 

A. — Because a church cannot be established by 
one's own power, as is manifest from 1 Corinthians 
3: 5. Secondly, because thereto particular talents 
and gifts, bestowed from above, are requisite, by 



274 THE DOITKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

which we are made able ministers of the New Cov- 
enant (2 Corinthians 3:6). Thirdly, it is therefore 
absolutely necessary to this lawful and gracious call- 
ing to have that ordination which remained in the 
Holy Church from the time of the apostles, as it is 
said, " And He gave some apostles and some pro- 
phets and some evangelists, and some pastors and 
teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the 
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body 
of Christ (Ephesians 4: 2)." 

D. — There is no calling to this office but that 
which crieth in our hearts ; neither does our learning 
consist in the words which men's wisdom teacheth, 
but in the manifestation of the Spirit and of power. 
Are the gifts which you require such as the being 
able to gabble Latin ? 

A. — ^You do not understand the Holy Scriptures, 
and this is the source of all your errors. The Apos- 
tle in the words quoted by you does not reject the 
talents and gifts of acquired knowledge, but con- 
trasts the doctrine of Jesus Christ with the wisdom 
of the heathen, which latter prevailed at that time. 
And that the calling of pastors and teachers always 
depended on the Church, by which they were chosen, 
is manifest from the very history of those pastors 
and teachers of the Church, who are eternally glori- 
fied. 

D.— What Holy Scriptures? What Church? What 
do you mean by Holy Scriptures? 

A. — ^Did not you yourself say that you founded 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 275 

your opinions on the Word of God ? That is what I 
mean by Holy Scriptures. 

D. — The Word of God is spiritual, immaterial, 
and can be written on nothing except on the heart 
and spirit. 

A. — But when the Saviour saith, " Search the 
ScriptureSy^^ and gives us the reason of this com- 
mand, because " in them ye think ye have eternal 
life,'' can we really understand anything else than 
the written Word of God ? This is the treasure He 
Himself has entrusted to His Holy Church as the 
unalterable rule of faith and life. 

D. — And what do you call a church ? 

A. — An assembly of believers in Jesus Christ, gov- 
erned by pastors according to regulations founded on 
the Word of God, and partakers of the ordinances of 
Faith. 

D. — ^Not so. There is but one Pastor, Jesus 
Christ, who laid down His life for the sheep, and one 
church, holy, apostolical, spiritual, invisible, of which 
it is said: " Where two or three are gathered to- 
gether in my name, there am I in the midst of 
them " ; in which no worship is paid to any material 
object, where those only are teachers who live vir- 
tuous lives, where the Word of God is obeyed in 
their hearts, on which it descends like dew upon the 
fleece, and out of which it flows as from a spring in 
the midst of the mountains ; where there are no such 
noisy, ostentatious, offensive and idolatrous meetings 
and vain ceremonies as with you, neither drunken 



276 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

and insulting pastors and teachers like yours, nor 
such a degree of evil disposition and corruption as 
among you. 

A. — Well, do you render becoming respect and 
thankfulness to those men who were distinguished 
for holiness, and, after death, glorified by God, as 
having been observers of faith and virtue ? 

D. — Where and whom has God thus glorified ? 

A. — Are the names of Chrysostom and Gregory 
the Great, and such like, known to you ? 

D. — I know them. 

A. — What do you think of them? 

D. — What do I think ? They were men. 

A. — But holy men; that is, their faith and lives 
were agreeable to God. and on this account they were 
miraculously glorified from above. 

D. — Let us suppose so. 

A. — But for all those offices and ceremonies which 
you denominate idolatrous and vain, the Church is 
indebted to them, and the worship of images has been 
declared not to be sinful by the Council of the Holy 
Fathers. How, then, will you make this agree ? 

D. — I know not. I only know that hell will be 
filled with priests and deacons and unjust judges. As 
for me, I will worship God as He instructs me. 

A. — But can you without danger depend upon 
'yourself, — that sometimes you do not take your 
own opinion, and even foolish imagination, for divine 
inspiration ? 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 277 

D. — How? For this purpose reason is given to 
us. I see what is good and what is bad. 

A. — A poor dependence. With the best reason 
sometimes good appears to be bad, and bad to be 
good. 

D. — I will pray to God that He will send His 
Word, and God never deceives. 

A. — True, God never deceives, but you deceive 
yourself, assuming yourself of that on His part which 
never took place. 

D. — God does not reject the prayers of believers. 

A. — True. Those requests which are agreeable to 
the law of faith Divine wisdom will not reject, but 
you ask and receive not because you ask amiss. For 
this purpose hath He given us the Book, His Divine 
Word, that we might behold in it His will, and that 
our petitions may be directed according to it. But 
miracles and immediate inspirations from Him with- 
out a cause it is vain to expect in the present day, 
particularly such as are improper and unworthy of 
Him. And to pretend to such inspirations and reve- 
lations is very hurtful to society, and therefore ought 
to be checked. 

D. — But to me they appear to be very useful, salu- 
tary and worthy of acceptation. 

A. — What? To break off from the society of 
your countrymen, united with you by the same laws 
and the same articles of faith, and to introduce 
strange doctrines and laws of your own making ? To 
begin to expound the doctrines of the Gospel with- 



278 THE DOIJKHOBOKS IN RUSSIA. 

out the aid of an enlightened education, disregard- 
ing the advice of those men who are most versed and 
experienced in those things; and out of your own 
head to found a separate society upon all this? Is 
not this to rise against your country, to refuse to 
serve it when the sanctity of an oath is required? 
And will the simple command of the higher powers 
be sufficient to unite you with others to defend your 
country, your fellow citizens and your faith ? 

D.— . . . 

A. — Why do you make no answer to this ? 

D. — There is nothing to say. I am not so loqua- 
cious as you are ; neither have I need of it. 

A. — That is true. But do you not see at least 
whither your blind zeal is leading you, and that you 
have deserved to suffer much more than has yet be- 
fallen you, because your repentance and amendment 
is expected ? 

D. — Do what you choose with us. We are happy 
to suffer for the faith. This is not a new thing. Did 
you never hear an old story? 

A. — Tell me, I pray you, what one? 

D. — A certain man planted a vineyard, and set a 
hedge about it, and digged the place for the wine vat, 
and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and 
went into a far country. And at the season he sent 
to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive 
from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 
And they caught him and beat him, and sent him 
away, shamefully handled. And again he sent an- 



^S^B 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 279 

other, and him they killed; and many others, beating 
some and killing some. Having, therefore, one son, 
his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, 
saying, They v^ill reverence my son; but those hus- 
bandmen said among themselves: This is the heir; 
come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be 
ours. And they took him and killed him, and cast 
him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the 
Lord of the vineyard do ? He will come and destroy 
these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto 
others. More with you I will not speak. 

A. — At least tell me this : How can this be recon- 
ciled, that you reject the Holy Scriptures, and at 
once endeavor to support yourself upon them? 

D. — Reason as you will; I have spoken what was 
necessary, and shall not say another word. 

Finis. 

The foregoing partial statements of their belief, 
made, no doubt, at some disadvantage, may be sup- 
plemented by other of their own explanations, col- 
lected by E^ovitsky and recently published by Aylmer 
Maude. As to their belief in the Eternal Deity, 
they say: 

" There is one God. The Holy Trinity is a being 
beyond comprehension : The Father is light, the Son 
life, and the Holy Spirit is peace; it is affirmed in 
man, the Father by memory, the Son by reason, the 
Holy Spirit by will: the one God in Trinity.'' 



BS 



280 THE DOUKHOBOES IN EUSSIA. 

Aylmer Maude tersely and pertinently remarks, 
in this connection: " We continually find in the 
Doukhobor statements of belief two different notes. 
The one is calm, moderate, persuasive, couched al- 
most in the orthodox phraseology of the Eastern 
Church, but importing a philosophic truth into the 
conventional phrases, and, at dangerous points, tak- 
ing refuge in mysticism. The other is clear, reso- 
lute, radical; there is no mysticism or secrecy about 
it, but it is often harshly contemptuous and inimical, 
not merely to all authority in church and state, but 
towards all who do not agree at once and absolutely. 
It answers to the harshest note sounded by the first 
generation of Quakers, in their scorn of ^ steeple- 
houses ' and ^ hireling priests.' '' 

With regard to the outward knowledge of the his- 
torical Christ they say, — 

" For our salvation it is not essential to have an 
external knowledge of Jesus Christ; for there is the 
inward Word which reveals Him in the depths of 
our souls. It existed in all ages, and enlightens all 
who are ready to receive it, whether they be nomin- 
ally Christians or not." 

In this statement we see a full recognition of the 
inshining Light of Christ, and His inspeaking Word, 
upon which George Fox and his co-laborers laid par- 
ticular emphasis. 

Touching the Resurrection, they believe, — 

" Those enlightened by the Spirit of God will af- 
ter death rise again; — what will become of other 



Mmft 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 281 

people is uncertain. It is the soul, and not the body, 
that will rise. 

" Sensual desires sow the seeds of future torment. 
The craving for honors now torments the ambitious 
man, and the craving for drink the drunkard, but 
much more will those who have sown the seeds of 
such desire be tormented in the future life, when 
they will not be able to gratify the passions. 

" If this is the result of sowing evil passions in 
this life, on the other hand the result of sowing good 
seed will be continued growth towards perfection, 
till the purified souls become like God Himself." 

IN'ovitsky says, " Luxury in food or dress is con- 
demned, because luxury, indulging the flesh, 
strengthens it to stifle the inward light coming from 
above." 

Concerning military service, they say, " To go to 
war, to carry arms and to take oaths are forbidden." 
Regarding war as a forbidden thing, they say they 
have set themselves a rule not to carry arms. 



The Church is a society selected by God himself. It is 
invisible and is scattered over the whole world ; it is 
not marked externally by any common creed. Not 
Christians only, but Jews, Mohammedans and others may 
be members of it, if only they hearken to the inward 
Word: and therefore — 

The Holy Sci'iptures, or the outer Word, are not 
essential for the sons of God. It is, however, of use to 
them, because in the Scriptures, as in nature and in 



282 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

ourselves, they read the decrees and the acts of the Lord. 
But the Scriptures must he understood symbolically, to 
represent things that are inward and spiritual. It must 
all be understood to relate in a mystical manner to the 
Christ within. 

The Christ within is the only true Hierarch and Priest. 
Therefore no external priest is necessary. In whomever 
Christ lives, he is Chrisfs heir^ and is himself a priest 
unto himself. The priests of temples made with hands 
are appointed externally, and can perform only what is 
external; they are not what they are usually esteemed to be. 

The sons of God should worship God in spirit and in 
truth, and, therefore, need no external worship of God. 
The external sacraments have no efficacy; they should be 
understood in a spiritual sense. To baptize a child with 
water is unbecoming for a Christian; an adult baptizes 
himself with the Word of truth, and is then baptized, 
indeed, by the true priest, Christ, with spirit and with fire. 



True confession is heartfelt contrition before God, though 
we may also confess our sins one to another when occasion 
presents itself. 

The external sacraments of the Church are offensive to 
God, for Christ desires not signs, but realities; the real 
communion comes by the Word, by thought, and by faith. 



Marriage should be accomplished without any ceremonies; 
it needs only the will of those who have come of age and 
who are united in love to one another, the consent of the 
parents, and an inward oath and vow, before all-seeing 
God, in the souls of those who are marrying, that they 
will, to the end of their days, remxiin faithful and 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBOES. 2 83^ 

inseparable. An external marriage ceremony, apart from 
the inward marriage, has no meaning ; it has at most this 
effect, that being performed before witnesses, it maintains 
the bond between the spouses by the fear of shame, should 
they break the promise of fidelity they have given. 



The priesthood is not an office reserved for specially 
selected people: ea^h real Christian, enlightened by the 
Word, may and should pray to God for himself, and 
should spread the truth that has been entrusted to him. 

^*What am I then f A temple to the Lord most high. 
The altar and the priest, the sacrifice am J. 
Our hearts the altars are; our wills the offering; 
Our souls they are the priest, our sacrifice to bring." 



The forms of worship of all the external churches in the 
world, their various institutions, all the ranks and orders 
of their servants, their costumes and movements, were 
invented after the time of the Apostles, — those men of holy 
wisdom, — and are in themselves naught but dead signs, 
mere figures and letters, externally representing that sacred, 
invisible, living and wise power of God, which (^like the 
sun^s rays) enlightens and pervades the souls of the elect, 
and lives and acts in them, purifying them, and uniting 
them to God. 

To pray in temples made with hands is contrary to the 
injunction of the Saviour : " When thou prayest, enter into 
thine inner chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy 
Father which is in secret.^* (Matt. 6 : 6.) 

Yet a son of God need not fear to enter any temples, — 
Papal, Greek, Lutheran, Calvinist, or other : to him they 
are all indifferent. All the ceremonies of the churches, 
being useless, were much better left alone. 



■■IBM 



284 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

Icons they do not respect or worship^ hut consider as idols. 

The saints may he respected for their virtues^ hut should 
not he prayed to. 

Fasting should consist in fleeing from lusts and refrain- 
ing from superfluities. 

The decrees of the Churches and the Councils should 
not he accepted. 

The Church has no right to judge or to sentence anyone; 
for it cannot know all man's inward, secret motives. 



The Doukhobors take nothing from travelers who 
stop at their houses either for lodging or food, and 
they have been accustomed to erect a special lodging 
house for visitors. 

Respect from children to parents is strictly ob- 
served, and, in general, from younger men to those 
older, though the latter, and even parents, do not 
appropriate to themselves any ascendency over the 
younger ones, but regard these as spiritually their 
equals. 

There exists no punishment among the brethren. 
As soon as a brother thinks another has behaved im- 
properly, he, according to the precise Gospel instruc- 
tion, reminds him that he is acting wrongly; if the 
one at fault will not take this counsel kindly, he is 
admonished in the presence of two or three of the 
brethren; if he does not take heed of them, he is in- 
vited to appear before the general assembly. There 
have been cases, though very seldom, in which some 
of the offenders have left the Brotherhood in order 



FAITH OF THE DOUKHOBORS. 285 

to live at liberty according to their own unrestricted 
desire. 

The men elect to learn various handicrafts, while 
agriculture has generally employed the majority. 

They have no written or printed regulations for 
their communities, a fact which might be supposed 
to lead to disagreements and disorder; but this is 
quite the exception. Parents watch over and correct 
the faults of their children, far more effectually than 
is apparent in most Christian countries. The system 
of education among the Doukhobors is simple and 
uniform. As soon as the child begins to speak and 
understand, his parents begin verbally to teach him 
prayers and psalms, and to tell him something out of 
the Scriptures; and they thus continue to instruct 
their children in Christian doctrine. These little 
Doukhobors very early accompany their elders to the 
gatherings for religious expression, where they take 
their part in reciting such prayers and psalms as they 
have learned. Owing to such education, which also 
embraces teaching some useful way of working with 
their hands, the spirit of the parents passes by de- 
grees into their children ; their ways of thinking take 
deep root, and the tendency towards good is most 
strongly encouraged by good examples. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE KASKOLNIKS AND OTHER DISSENTERS. 

The history of religious dissent in E-ussia dates 
l)ack to the latter part of the seventeenth century. 
Some peasants, and otEers more favored witlTedu^^ 
•cational opportunities, who thought they could ex- 
plain the meaning of the figures in the Apocalypse, 
had decided that the mysterious number of the beast 
was 1666, — and there doubtless was enough falling 
away from the faith in that year of our Lord to af- 
ford the evidence they wanted to support their inter- 
pretation. 

It was also about this time that Tsar Alexei 
Michailovich ordered a revision of the Russian Bible 
^nd other church books, for it was well known that 
many errors had crept into the text. This was finally 
accomplished by the Patriarch Nikon, who compared 
his revision with the original Greek manuscripts, 
and, as this work obtained the approval of the Tsar 
and two ecclesiastical councils, it was made obliga- 
tory upon the people. Many of them, however, 
would have none of " Mkonian novelties," as they 
dubbed the revision, and thus began t he ^aslcol, — 
the schism, or " split," in the church. 

Great objection was made to the most trivial 
changes in spelling, or in the number of times the 
sign of the cross should be made and the position 
of the fingers while making it. " What have you 



THE DISSENTERS. 287 

done with the Son of God ? Give Him back to us ! 
You have changed Issus [the old Kussian form of 
Jesus] into lissus ! It is fearful not only to commit 
such a sin, but even to think of it ! " : — these are fair 
examples of the attitude of many toward the a]tered 
text of the Scriptures. 

It might be well, before entering further into this 
account of religious persecution, to understand the 
motives of the Russian Government in its hostility to 
these dissenters; for at one time the " Old Belie vers,'' 
as they called themselves, " waged an unrelenting 
war upon the whole body of European reforms, and, 
having reached the conclusion that every feature of 
the machinery of government, from the taking of a 
census to the keeping of a registry of births and 
deaths, was essentially evil in its purpose and nature, 
they carried their antagonism to the extreme of at- 
tributing the miserable condition of the country to 
the machinations of an Antichrist Tsar." (" Russia 
and the Russians.'') 

One naturally wonders, however, why such peace- 
loving, industrious and honest people as the Doukho- 
bors, Molokans and Stundists should be persecuted, 
while their German or Mohammedan neighbors, also 
living under Russian rule, go unmolested, so far as 
religion is concerned. Evidently nationality plays an 
important part in this distinction. Wallace says: 
*' Tartars, Germans and Poles are all, in a sense, 
heretics, but in the very nature of the case a Tartar 
should be a Mohammedan, the German a Protestant 



288 THE DOiJKHOBOKS IN RUSSIA. 

and tke Pole a Roman Catholic, while the Russian 
must needs be a member of the Orthodox Russian 
Church, and an inclination on his part to change his 
religion, no matter how pure and elevated his mo- 
tives may be, brings down upon him the criminal law 
and popular opinion as if he had been a traitor/' The 
Russian Church has long paid inordinate attention to 
an elaborated ritual, no doubt gaining thereby many 
converts from peoples who were accustomed to pagan 
rites and magical incantations, but gaining also at 
the expense of a moral and spiritual life. 

In this connection it is pre-eminently true that 
" The weakness inseparable from all ceremonialism 
is that it curses and blesses according to some pre- 
scribed ritual, and thus divorces itself from human 
nature. The doctrine of ' apostolic succession ' is a 
case in point. Its upholders are forced by the logic 
of facts to admit that some through whom they be- 
lieved it to have descended have been wicked men; 
and so, to save their theory, they claim that the offi- 
cial (pretended) possession of the Holy Ghost has no 
connection with personal morality. It thus blesses 
what God has cursed. In Christianity there are no 
essential — and can be no essential — ceremonies, for 
genuine Christianity has to do only with the attitude 
and the development of the character, and with acts 
naturally flowing therefrom. A dogmatic creed is 
really an intellectual sacramentalism. It tends to 
substitute ideas and formulas in the place of life."* 

•Dr. R. H. Thomas, in "Present-Day Papers." 



THE DISSENTEKS. 289 

Simple traditional custom and religious convic- 
tions have often been confounded, until it became 
difficult to distinguish between a social habit and a 
doctrine of faith. An old Russian would have re- 
sisted the attempt to deprive him of his beard as 
stoutly as a Calvinist of the present time w^ould re- 
sist the suggestion for him to abjure predestination, 
and both for the same reason, — because they be- 
lieved it essential to their salvation. " Where," 
asked one of the patriarchs of Moscow, " will those 
who shave their chins stand at the Last Day, — among 
the righteous adorned with beards, or among the 
beardless heretics ? '' 

Thus we recognize an honest purpose on the part 
of both the persecuted and their persecutors, but with 
this difference, — the latter missed the benefit Jesus 
said would rest upon those who were cast out for 
His sake. 

The decree of excommunication pronounced by the 
Ecclesiastical Council placed the nonconformist be- 
yond the pale of the Church, and since 1680 the civil 
power has undertaken the part of persecuting him, — 
an endless and gruesome task. The immediate effect 
was to confirm the victims in their belief that the 
Church and the Tsar had become heretical, and to 
drive thousands across the frontier into Poland, 
Prussia, Sweden, Austria, Turkey, the Caucasus and 
Siberia, while still others fled to the northern forests, 
where they worshiped according to their consciences 
and sent out missionaries to sow what they called 



290 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

" the living seed." Thousands perished by self-im- 
molation when pursued by the agents of the govern- 
ment. To them the " revision '' of Peter the Great 
v^as a profane " numbering of the people/' and an at- 
tempt to enroll in the service of Antichrist those 
whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of 
Life. They said, " The world could not have been 
created, according to the corrected calendar, in the 
month called January, because apples were not ripe 
at that season, and consequently Eve could not have 
been tempted in the way described in Genesis." 

At first these " Old Ritualists " had no organiza- 
tion, but, as time went on and the world did not come 
to an end, as they had predicted, nor did the Tsar re- 
turn to the true faith, they found themselves in a 
dilemma, created by their notions about " apostolic 
succession," — for to them the historic continuity of 
the Church could only be preserved through its 
priesthood, and of this official order they had none 
properly " ordained." The result was another schism 
among these zealous advocates of orthodoxy. The 
" Old Ritualists " held to the sacraments and cere- 
monial observances on the old form, while the Bez- 
popoftsi, or " priestless people," have tried to find 
some other way to Heaven. 

It would be amusing, if the subject were not so 
serious, to follow the account of expedients resorted 
to by these excommunicated conservatives in order to 
secure a " consecrated " bishop. Suffice it to say that 
in the course of a century they finally succeeded. 



THE DISSENTERS. 291 

The priest] ess section went into all sorts of fantas- 
tical notions, but as Wallace pertinently says, " Ex- 
treme fanaticism, like all other abnormal states, can- 
not long exist in a mass of human beings without 
some constant exciting cause. 

" The vulgar necessities of everyday life, espe- 
cially among people who have to live by the labor of 
their hands, have a wonderfully sobering effect on 
the excited brain, and must always, sooner or later, 
prove fatal to inordinate excitement.'' Thus most 
of these poor people gave up their unnatural ideas. 
However, they split up into divers sects, such as the 
" Theodosians," " Philippians," and " Pilgrims." 
The total number of dissenters is about 11,000,000: 
this includes Protestants and all who do not accept 
the Grseco-Eussian form of belief, such as the Molo- 
kans, or " Milk Drinkers," and " Flagellants." 

Time and interest would both fail in trying to 
name and define the distinguishing characteristics of 
all the various sects which have become more or less 
noted for their protest against the Orthodox Church. 
We may not, however, pass by the Stundists without 
some mention of their character and sufferings. 

Mysticism, rationalism and evangelism are all rep- 
resented in many phases by the general body of dis- 
senters. The Doukhobors might be classed with the 
first and second of these divisions, while the Stundists 
belong more properly to the evangelicals. 



292 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

THE STUNDISTS. 

This sect has been so closely associated with the 
Doukhobors during the past forty years that their 
rise and sufferings are almost a counterpart of those 
of the older sect. 

The Germans who settled in the government of 
Cherson during the reign of Catherine II. maintained 
their Lutheran and Mennonite faith, and it was 
through their faithfulness that certain Russian peas- 
ants embraced similar religious views. 

The first man who spread the gospel among his 
fellow-countrymen was one Onishenko. He declared 
himself " converted "in 1858, and so successful were 
his efforts in arousing those among whom he lived 
and labored, that meetings for reading the Bible and 
aiding propaganda interests were held throughout 
Southern Russia. Masses of people crowded the 
meeting houses; they sang and prayed and read the 
Gospels and multiplied exceedingly. The police were 
nonplused and the priests stood aghast; — it was a tide 
the force of which they could not stem, and the depth 
of which they could not fathom. " We must worship 
God in spirit,'' said the Stundists,* " and the spirit 
being free, our worship should likewise be free " — 
from the fetters of ceremonies and priestly rule. 
" My Saviour is my only priest ! O God, enlighten 
me ! and make me a changed man ! " Onishenko had 
prayed ; and his prayer was heard, for he says, " A 

* From the German Stunde, or hour, as these secretaries 
were in the habit of meeting together for an appointed hour. 



THE DISSENTERS. 293 

marvelous sense of freedom, a feeling of intense joy, 
came over me, and I knew God henceforth." His 
co-religionists declared the ceremonies of the Greek 
Church to be mummeries. They boldly asserted the 
service of God to be living for others and dying to 
ourselves. " God is love, and what He asks of us is 
love for each other, who are His images, and not rev- 
erence for temples and wax-lights and icons.'^ " The 
whole monstrous fabric of Russian orthodoxy, with 
its debasing image-worship and sacerdotalism, was 
put away," says Charles Lowe. " Old and young set 
themselves to learn to read and write, and it came to 
pass that in a land otherwise sunk into brutish ignor- 
ance and superstition, the tiller chanted scraps of the 
Gospel as he walked after his plough, the weaver 
sang chapters of it to the noisy accompaniment of the 
shuttle, and the traveler beguiled the tedium of his 
journey with the thrilling stories of the Book." 
Within three years no less than three hundred thou- 
sand had joined the Stundist movement, and, like 
Quakerism in the seventeenth century, it threatened 
to proselytize the nation. 

The testimony of Russian officials and of those not 
in sympathy with them, affords strong evidence in 
favor of their character. An Orthodox Russian jour- 
nal says of them: " Force and violence are foreign to 
their character; guile and double-dealing are ban- 
ished from their lives; and such is their natural kind- 
heartedness that the insults and injustice which they 
suffer, instead of kindling their anger, evoke their 



294 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN RUSSIA. 

compassion. They set such store by honest labor that 
they eschew every kind of pleasure, even the most 
innocent of all, — the squandering of their time iu 
idleness. They neither drink, nor steal, nor swear, 
and in the ups and down of life they bear themselves 
like genuine Christians. Crime amongst them is al- 
most unheard of. One of their cherished virtues con- 
sists in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, car- 
ing for the sick, and sheltering the wanderer; — ^in a 
word, in helping in every possible way their necessi- 
tous neighbors. An upright, sober, compassionate 
people." 

Such a light could not be hid, and its rays only il- 
luminated the national and religious gloom enough 
to reveal the cruelty that lurked within its embrace. 
The Church and State combined in 1878, by the old- 
time tortures of confiscation, banishment and exile, 
to crush out that life which is ever the light of men. 
" My predecessors knouted the Stundists with whips, 
but I will beat them with scorpions," said the newly- 
consecrated Bishop Sergius under Alexander III., 
and the Procurator of the Holy Synod, — known 
throughout the empire as " Terror " and " Keeper of 
the Imperial Conscience," — C. Pobiedonostzev, — 
willingly assisted in endeavoring to root out " the ac- 
cursed sect." Scandalous fines were levied on the 
poor people. Misery and ruin to many a family, with 
banishment of their leaders to Siberia or to the Cau- 
casuSj were the common experience. " Walking with 
ordinary criminals in chains, with shaven beards and 



THE DISSENTERS. 295 

clad in ordinary prison-garb, they were pushed and 
hustled along, at the point of the bayonet.'' 

The anonymous author of " The Stundists " says: 
^^ The fabric of Russian power is an autocracy based 
on ignorance and superstition, and therefore it is 
the interest of self-preservation that has always 
prompted the Tsar's government to crush everything 
that would bring enlightenment in its train. 

"Thousands of Stundists and Baptists, of Molokans 
and Doukhobors, are banished to the remotest cor- 
ners of the vast empire, and are imprisoned and tor- 
tured in a variety of ways, — only a degree less inhu- 
man than the scourgings of the Middle Ages. Russia 
works in secret, her methods are underground, and 
her victims are voiceless. She has no press to de- 
nounce each case of persecution as it occurs. The 
trials of heretics are conducted with closed doors, the 
public being carefully excluded. Russians themselves 
do not know a tenth of what is being done." 

Thus were the faithful disciples of a crucified 
Lord banished, bankrupted, and deprived of all civil 
rights, — torn from the bosom of their families, and 
treated as most dangerous criminals. Surely, if the 
blessing of the Saviour rests upon those who are per- 
secuted for His " name's sake," a rich reward is in 
store for these sufferers — ^in common with many 
others of their dissenting brethren. 

This chapter would hardly be complete without 
some account of a visit to the Stundists by Joseph J . 
iNeave, of Sydney, Australia, and John Bellows, of 



^m 



296 THE DOFKHOBOKS IN RUSSIA. 

Gloucester, England, in 1892. The former had a 
distinct call to go to E-ussia, while visiting Friends 
in Australia, 

He was in Hobart, Tasmania, at the time, and his 
experience is thus related by himself: " One morning 
(early in 1890), in reading the 47th Psalm, before 
leaving my room, my mind held to the last verse as 
I turned in quiet toward the Lord: ^ The shields of 
the earth belong unto God. He is greatly exalted.' 
With this came a sense wherein I seemed able to see 
every individual believer in the Lord Jesus the world 
over, and His protecting power about them as a 
shield, preserving them from evil. 

" While meditating on this wonderful revelation, 
it seemed as if a voice in my ear said, ^ Thou shalt 
go to Russia.' I had not been thinking of Russia, 
and I never expected to go to a people who could not 
understand my speech. I said, ' I cannot ; it is im- 
possible.' Very soon, however, I was able to say, as 
I felt my utter unfitness for such a work. ' If thou 
wilt go with me and go before me — (this the Lord 
fulfilled in a marvelous manner all through our Rus- 
sian service), — I will go to the ends of the earth, 
if it be Thy will.' " In the course of a year the way 
very unexpectedly opened for him to go to Europe, — 
by a woman Friend in England leaving him $1,000. 
" So here I was, with the money in my hands, from 
a quarter I never looked for anything to come from. 
I did not have it more than two or three days when 
I saw I must go off to England at once." As a vessel 




Joseph James Neave, 

Hermann Fast. John Bellows. 

(Interpreter.) 



THE DISSENTERS. 297 

was about to sail direct for London, he took passage 
in it from Ljttleton, ISTew Zealand, in the Fourth 
month of 1892, arriving in time to attend the Yearly 
Meeting held in London. 

His prospect was duly presented to the proper 
meetings and his concern approved by Friends. One 
of these wrote to John Bellows, who was not present : 
" I have just returned from the morning meeting, 
where Friends have liberated Joseph J. E^eave for 
religious service in Russia, of which prospect no 
doubt thou hast heard." John Bellows, however, had 
not heard of it previously, but, upon reading the let- 
ter, he did hear the query inwardly addressed to 
himself, " If thou shouldst be called to go with Jo- 
seph J. ]^eave to Russia, wouldst thou be willing to 
obey ? " The suggestion, which struck him with sur- 
prise and pain, remained vdth him; but, after confer- 
ring with his wife, and being fully approved by the 
three Friends who had charge of carrying out the 
arrangements for Joseph J. heave's journey, he gave 
himself up for the service. " And here we see the 
wonderful care and wisdom of God who brought me," 
says Joseph J. iJ^eave, " from Australia to open a 
gate for the right man to go through: — all in that 
perfect order and wisdom which reveals the faithful- 
ness of Him who is ever ready to guide a church or 
an individual whose hope and trust is in Him. Dear 
John Bellows was admirably fitted for the delicate 
and difiicult service that lay before us, and so we 



298 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

worked together in much harmony throughout the 
whole of our journeyings." 

After these preliminary arrangements were per- 
fected, Joseph J. E^eave and John Bellows went to 
St. Petersburg, and obtained the necessary liberty 
to visit the persecuted dissenters in Southern Rus- 
sia. In the course of six months they reached the 
Caucasus, and found Prince D. A. Hilkov among the 
Doukhobors, as he had been exiled to that province 
a few years before their visit. As previously stated, 
the Prince had given up his sword in 1877, as the 
result of a deep conviction that the profession of a 
soldier was contrary to the teachings of the 'New 
Testament. His interest in the Universal Brother- 
hood opened the acquaintance of the Society of 
Friends in England with the Doukhoborsf. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE MIE (mEEe). 

Many of the peculiarities of the Doukhobors be- 
come clearer to us if we understand some of their 
national institutions. From time immemorial the 
Village Commune, or Mir^ has been a unique Slav- 
onic institution. This form of government includes 
five-sixths of the entire population in European Rus- 
sia, and is one of the most democratic in the world. 
Without any written law, its authority is recognized 
as equally binding upon every member of the com- 
munity. The methods of different communities vary 
much, and yet some salient features are common to 
them all. 

The rural population of Russia is scattered over an 
immense territory, and the arable land is in excess of 
the needs of the people. 

The peasants all live in villages and farm the ad- 
jacent land. The Mir was primarily instituted in 
order to secure the payment of taxes due to the Im- 
perial Government, and each village is held responsi^ 
ble for a certain sum, so large as in many cases to 
impoverish it. The taxation is based upon the num- 
ber of " revision souls," or men registered on a cen- 
sus list made up at regular intervals, averaging about 
once in fifteen years. 

The Village Assembly is composed of heads of 
households, who meet frequently (preferably on the 



300 THE DOUKHOBOES IN RUSSIA. 

first day of the week) to discuss the affairs, civil and 
domestic, of the Community. 'No nobleman is ad- 
mitted into membership. An Elder, or " Starosta," 
is selected from the peasants assembled, whose duties 
correspond somewhat to those of a Chairman or 
Speaker in an English-speaking gathering for similar 
purposes, with this difference, — the lowest State offi- 
cial may at any moment supersede or suspend the 
elder's functions. His only mark of distinction is a 
bronze medal hung about his neck, as the insignia of 
his office, — a trifling compensation for the onerous 
duties of his position. The most important of these 
is the distribution of the communal lands among the 
families of each village. 

In order to understand this allotment, it may be 
well to explain that each rural district has three 
divisions of its property, viz. : the land on which the 
village is built, the portion ±o be cultivated, and that 
which is reserved for pasturage or hay-making. The 
sites of the buildings and the surrounding gardens 
are the hereditary property of the family occupying 
the same, and are not affected by the periodical re- 
distributions of the other land. The arable and 
meadow lands are apportioned somewhat differently. 

The whole of the land to be plowed is first divided 
into three fields, to suit the triennial rotation of 
crops, and these again into sections, until every 
household can have at least one strip in each field, 
so as to insure some equality of soil. This is done by 
the peasants with measuring rods, and with remarka- 



THE MIR. 301 

ble accuracy. The ground to be used for hay-making 
is divided in like manner, except that the division is 
made annually. 

Every year, on the day fixed by the Assembly, the 
whole community of men proceed to the harvest 
field, vt^here, by casting lots, they determine what 
each man shall cut. Each family can sow any seed, 
according to choice, but none may cut hay independ- 
ently. One of the most interesting and picturesque 
scenes is that of the villagers, both men and women, 
chanting as they work together or return from the 
field. 

The Mir supplies conscripts to the standing army, 
and has power to banish its members to Siberia or to 
call them home from any place where they have set- 
tled. This power has sometimes been abused in 
order to extort money from its absent members, who 
would rather pay a considerable sum than undergo 
the inconvenience of travel. 

One curious feature of this institution is the un- 
reserved obedience its members yield to its decisions. 
D. M. Wallace says: ^^ I know of many instances 
where peasants have set at defiance the power of the 
police, of the provincial government and of the cen- 
tral government itself, but I have never heard of any 
instance where the will of the Mir was opposed by 
one of its members." The money is paid to the pro- 
prietor of the land on the instalment plan; and the 
burden of this, in addition to the government tax, 
falls pretty heavily upon the sons of the soil, and f re- 



302 THE DOUKHOBOES IN RUSSIA. 

quently a peasant's cow or horse is seized by the tax- 
gatherer because some deficit appears in the accounts 
of the Headman. 

Every married man and every widov^ must hold 
land, and if any wish to migrate, some satisfactory 
arrangement must be made with the Community in 
order that his share of the taxes shall be paid. 

Courts for the trial of persons guilty of minor of- 
fences can be held by the Mir, but the government 
police keep a surveillance over its action. 

As the domestic affairs of the Community iriay be 
interfered with by the Starosta, much annoyance 
may come to the presiding officer; and, as a matter of 
:fact, the responsibility of the position renders it quite 
unpopular. 

One of these meetings is a most entertaining spec- 
i;acle. It is thus graphically described by Wallace: 
^' The peasants, male and female, have turned out in 
Sunday attire, the bright costumes of the women 
helping the sunshine to put a little rich color into the 
scene, which is at ordinary times monotonously gray. 
Slowly the crowd collects in the open space at the 
side of the church. There are women present who, 
on account of the absence or the death of their hus- 
bands, happen to be heads of households: as such, 
their right to take part in the deliberations is never 
called in question. In matters affecting the general 
welfare of the Commune they seldom speak, remem- 
bering the Russian adage applied to their sex, 
' Woman's hair is long, but her mind is short.' Yet 



THE MIR. 303 

as the head of a household they may speak freely on 
any subject directly affecting their homes. For in- 
stance, when it is proposed to increase or diminish 
her household's share of the land and the burdens 
the woman may speak. A typical scene is that of 
three peasants and a woman standing a little apart 
from the crowd; the woman explaining with tears in 
her eyes that her * old man/ w^ho is Elder for the 
time being, is very ill and cannot fulfil his duties. 
' But he has not served a year yet, and he'll get bet- 
ter.' ^ Who knows ? ' replies the woman, sobbing. 
^ It is the will of God, but I don't believe that he'll 
€ver put his foot to the ground again.' ' Very well; 
that's enough; hold thy tongue,' says the graybeard 
of the little group to the woman; and then, turning 
to the other peasants, remarks, ^ There's nothing to 
be done. The Stanovoi (officer of the rural police) 
will be here one of these days and will make a row 
again if we don't select a new Elder; there is Alexei 
Ivanov; he has not served yet ! ' ' Yes, yes; Alexei 
Ivanov,' shout half a dozen voices, while he protests 
in the strongest terms, giving half a dozen reasons 
why he should not be chosen. But his protestations 
are not listened to, and the proceedings terminate. 
A new village Elder has been duly elected." 

In the main, the decisions of these assemblies are 
marked by plain, practical common sense, the most 
disturbing influence being that of alcohol, and even 
under its stimulation the members seldom come to 
Hows, for there is no class of men in the world more 



304 THE DOUKHOBOES IN RUSSIA. 

good-natured and pacific tlian are these Russian 
Moujiks. 

There are certain disadvantages connected with 
the communal system, which arise from the redis- 
tribution of land; those who have improved their 
shares by cultivation and manuring losing the benefit 
of their labor, unless the land apportioned to them 
has been equally well tilled. 

The members of a family all farm together year 
by year when at home, and when earning money 
elsewhere are expected to put their money into a 
common purse. The households composing the vil^ 
lage commune farm independently, and pay into the 
common treasury a fixed sum. 

^Notwithstanding the restrictions put upon indi- 
vidual ownership, this system of land tenure has 
secured a home to the Russian peasant when he has 
gone into neighboring coromunities, or has sought 
employment in towns. In this way he became, in 
many instances, half peasant, haK artisan. 

The peasant might work most of his life in towns, 
but he never severed his connection with his native 
village; he remained, whether he desired it or not, 
a member of the Commune, possessing a share of the 
communal land, and liable for a share of the com- 
munal burdens. Manufacturers in Russia have 
sometimes allowed their employees to go home to 
mow their strip of grass or to sow a few acres of 
wheat. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. 

There are ten ministers and five assistant minis- 
ters in the Russian Cabinet. These are not servants 
of the public, but of the Tsar; their duty being to 
carry out his personal will in their several depart- 
ments. When a law is to be made, custom and the 
statute-book require that it should be submitted to 
a committee of ministers; if approved by them, or 
by a majority of them, it is passed on to the Imperial 
Council; and if it there secures approval, it is laid 
before the Tsar, who signs it or not as it meets his 
views. These formalities, however, are sometimes 
dispensed with, especially when the enactment in 
question is one not likely to secure the approval of 
a majority of the ministers. Such, for instance, was 
the edict expelling the Jews from Moscow, which was 
decreed without asking the advice of the ministers 
or of the Imperial Council. It w^as promulgated 
after a report handed in to the Minister of Foreign 
xlffairs, who had been encouraged to take this step 
by the Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovitch, brother 
of the Emperor, and in some respects a reproduction 
of the Grand Duke Constantine Paulovitch of a pre- 
ceding generation. 

Another illustration of this Imperial action — one 
that has done the most to undo the reform set on 
foot after the emancipation of the serfs — was the 



306 THE DOUKHOBOES IN RUSSIA. 

edict which practically effaced the Zemstvos, or Pro- 
vincial Assemblies, and in their place set over the vil- 
lage communities what are called district command- 
ers. This measure, which has produced a radical 
transformation in the entire internal organization of 
the empire, was made law by Alexander III., in op- 
position to the votes of his ministers and council. 

The district commander must be an hereditary 
noble. He is appointed by the Government, and 
need not be in any way connected with the district 
which he is to govern. His functions are those of 
both administrator and judge. His duty is to see 
that no Mir goes contrary to the Emperor's policy. 

The agents of the district governor are the police. 
It is the reintroduction of centralized bureaucracy 
into the rural districts — setting over the emancipated 
serf the Mir and the commander of the district, in 
place of his hereditary master and the headman of 
his village. 

Ministers need not agree with each other's views, 
but, happily, since the late students' troubles, when 
the Tsar vindictively ordered some of them to be 
sent to Port Arthur as soldiers — ^from which service 
students had long been exempt — ^his ministers have 
discussed and disapproved this edict. They have 
compelled him to withdraw his ulcase committing stu- 
dents to the army, and have prevented him from de- 
claring a state of siege at St. Petersburg. They also 
demanded of him the dismissal and practical exile of 
the 'prefect de police, General Cleighills, of St. Peters- 



THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. 307 

burg, who directed the Cossacks to use their mur- 
derous nagaikisy or lead-weighted horsewhips, upon 
the heads of the students, so that nineteen of them 
were killed, and six hundred of the literati were 
taken from their homes and committed to prison be- 
cause of their sympathy with the students. Prince 
Kropotkin says in this connection: " The importance 
of these three steps cannot be overrated. For the 
first time in the history of Russia, for the last one 
hundred years, the Committee of the Ministers has 
discussed the orders of the Tsar, and disapproved 
them, acquiring thus a power which it never had be- 
fore, and taking a responsibility before the country 
and not before the Tsar. 

" These are evidently the first germs of constitu- 
tional rule which will necessarily bring about fur- 
ther ones." — (The Outlook, April 6th, 1901, p. 764.) 

" Russia must be for the Russians " has been the 
imperial maxim for two decades, and this means that 
in all that vast empire, embracing many races, na- 
tions and religions, there shall be only one faith, — 
that of the Grseco-Russian Church, of which the Em- 
peror is the appointed head. It also means that the 
Tsar's will, as set forth in his ukases and carried out 
by the one hundred thousand officials of his kingdom 
— through whom it percolates to the people — ^must 
be absolute and paramount. And that which proves 
a yet more galling yoke to his subjects is his effort 
to Russify all the national institutions which they 
have inherited from their ancestors. 



308 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

Thus the Mir — the Slavonic village system — has 
been forced upon the Poles, the Finns, and the in- 
habitants of the Baltic Provinces; while the Jews 
are to be wiped out of the empire as speedily as may 
be, and Lutherans, Catholics and orthodox dissenters 
are to realize that they cannot live comfortably in 
Holy Russia. I^one of these can hold any govern- 
mental position, because of their dissent from the 
state religion. As near as possible it is to be an em- 
pire for Slavs only — a crusade against modern prog- 
ress. The person whose indirect influence has been 
most powerful with the present Tsar and his father 
is Constantine Pobiedonostzev, the Procurator* of 
the Holy Synod, and a man whose ideals of states- 
manship are worthy of a Torquemada. 

Half the ministers of Alexander III. owed their 
nominations to his influence, and he is scarcely less 
influential with Nicholas II. Without being a re- 
ligious enthusiast, he has conceived the sacred duty 
of coercing men's consciences in order to conserve 
the interests of the state. He holds that Russia was 
once saved by the Church, in a critical national 
period, and so his duty is now to safeguard that 
Church against anything which will menace its 
security and unity. Thus the name of this omnipo- 
tent ecclesiastical statesman is whispered with mys- 
terious awe, throughout that land of religious and 
political intolerance. 



* Now happily retired from his proeiiratorship. 



CHAPTER VII. 

EUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY 862-1901. 

Rightly to understand the present autocratic rule 
in Russia we must go back to the ninth century, 
when the Slavs who were settled about ]^ovgorod 
concluded to invite certain Scandinavian Princes to 
come over and govern them. In A.D. 862, they sent 
over the sea to the Yaryags, saying: " Our land is 
rich and large, but there is no order in it. Come and 
be our princes and rule over us." 

This was a unique invitation, but accepted in good 
faith on the part of Princes and people. Three 
brothers responded. Rurik (Rorikr in Scandina- 
vian), the oldest of them, soon became sole ruler of 
the Russian country. It was under his administra- 
tion that the Slav tribes came to be known as Russij 
or Russians. His brother Gleg (879-913) attacked 
the southern Slavs by force and chose Kiev for the 
capital of Russia. 

The centralizing effect was soon apparent and con- 
tinuous. The quarrels between Commune and Com- 
mune, — Volost and Volost, — which made the old or- 
der unendurable, subsided. Apart, however, from 
administrative benefits which it has conferred — in- 
cluding social and juridical ideas — the Varyag 
princes did not greatly impress their subjects. They 
did not attempt to modify the language, as the Nor- 
mans did the English, nor introduce the i^orse 



310 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

tongue among the Slavs, but left tLem a military 
system which has lasted a thousand years, and has 
been the bane of the nation. 

From the tenth to the twelfth century, inclusive, 
Russia was largely made up of federated republics in 
the form of trade guilds. The most important of 
these was that of !N^ovgorod, claiming one hundred 
thousand inhabitants, with three hundred thousand 
more of subject populations. This republic had a 
democratic form of government, and compelled the 
ruling Premier to respect the popular assembly. 

In all these republics the assembly could call and 
dismiss the Premier at will, and they gave the final 
word in war and peace. This, then, was a larger de- 
gree of independence than was possible under the old 
regime. 

Under this system of sharing the land among the 
princes there were three distinct ideas struggling for 
the mastery, — the Slavonic custom, which prevailed 
before the arrival of the Varyags, that of bestowing 
the highest dignity in the gift of the gens or family 
on the oldest member; the Scandinavian custom of 
dividing out the land to the successor of the prince, 
and the western idea of primogeniture, introduced by 
way of Byzantium. This conflict would have proved 
fatal to the national authority had not a new capital 
been founded, as well as a new dynasty, and that is 
just what came about when Andrei Bogolubskv 
marched against the beautiful city of Kiev (" Mother 
of Russian cities ") in 1169, took it by assault and 



RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY. 311 

gave it over to pillage. Thenceforth the power of a 
single monarch was to be recognized, whether under 
Tartar or Romanov rule. 

Moscow, in the forest to the northeast, was built 
for the purpose of changing the old regime. 

The Tartars, under Ghengis Khan, sacked Kiev ir 
1240, and from that time until this " galling yoke " 
was broken by Ivan the Terrible, in 1480, the Khan, 
whose residence was at Sarai, assumed the right to 
dispense the Russian principalities, or " shares," to 
persons of his own choice — as often to a Tartar-Mon- 
gol as to a prince of the Rurik family. 

The poor of the land, who have always been in the 
vast majority, suffered greatly under the Tartar 
domination, as a capitation tax was imposed and col- 
lected from house to house with immediate enslave- 
ment in default of its payment. Many debtors were 
mercilessly beaten before being sold into slavery, and 
it was a great relief to Russia when the princes, in- 
stead of the haskahis (Tartar tax collectors) were or-^ 
dered to collect the tribute themselves and hand it 
over to their oriental masters at Sarai. 

The Tartar invasion considerably affected the his- 
torical development and national character of the 
Russian people, but the Tartars did not attempt to 
Tartarize the Russians, but allowed them to retain 
their land, their language, their courts of justice, and 
all their other institutions, as long as they were will- 
ing to acknowledge the Mongol authority and pay 
their specified tribute. 



312 THE DOTJKHOBOES IN EUSSIA. 

Had the Khans of the Golden Horde been pru- 
dent, far-seeing statesmen, they might have long re- 
tained their supremacy over Eussia, by keeping its 
princes on the same level. But by favoring some 
more more than others the entering wedge of jeal- 
ousy finally proved able to secure independence. 
Meanwhile the Tartar rule interrupted that normal 
development of democracy, which has been the crown 
of the Anglo-Saxon race, by extinguishing all free 
political life. " The Grand Princes of Moscovy " 
were the political descendants, not of the old inde- 
pendent Princes, but of the Tartar Khans, their auto- 
cratic power being, in a sense, created by the Tartar 
domination. 

" The position of the Christians under the Khan 
of the Golden Horde was analogous to that now held 
by Christians in Turkey." — (Wallace.) 

From the founding of Moscow, about the middle 
of the twelfth century, to Ivan the Terrible (1533-4), 
there was a constant tendency to disregard individual 
rights and those of the Popular Assembly. Ivan, 
most appropriately called " The Terrible," was the 
first to assume the title of Tsar. He was the very 
culmination of despotism — a typical madman on the 
throne. 

We would not wish to follow the details of his in- 
human acts, but only to point out that the trend of 
his autocratic regime gradually brought under one 
central authority all the free republics of Russia, and 
substituted for the Slav custom of possession by the 



14USSIAN ±'OLITICAL HISTORY. f3l3 

genSy the present system of a personal right, on the 
part of the Tsar, to all the land, and a paternal feel- 
ing toward his subjects not at all consistent with 
their freedom. 

" Besides being merely the holder during his life- 
time of possessions which belonged to the whole fam- 
ily of Princes, he had become the absolute owner of 
those possessions. Meanwhile the people once his 
subjects were now literally the slaves of a monarch 
invested with absolute power over their lives." — (E. 
N"oble.) 

In the century between the death of Ivan the Ter- 
rible (1584) and Peter the Great (1689) the Ko- 
manovs displaced the Eurik dynasty. 

The first Pomanov Tsar was elected by a council 
of Princes in 1613. His grandson, Peter the Great, 
sought to introduce the western idea of civilization 
among his subjects, but the time was not ripe, and 
his efforts at reform, while successful in creating a 
marvelous city in a swamp, did not permeate the 
masses of the people. He cared little for their re- 
ligious opinions so long as they replenished his ex- 
chequer. Thus those who were more devout re- 
garded him as the incarnate spirit of evil. 

In 1705 new regulations in regard to dress were 
enforced without exception. The luxuriant Russian 
beard had to give way to the reforming razor of a 
monarch to whom all memorials of ancient Russia 
were odious. People who regarded the beard as sa- 
cred, such as the sectarians, were allowed to com- 



314 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

pound for its retention by paying one hundred rou- 
bles annually, and by wearing a receipt for the 
money in the form of a medal, on one side of which 
was inscribed, " The beard is a useless embarrass- 
ment." 

He also tried to abolish the old practice of falling 
on the knees as the imperial carriage passed, as well 
as of beating the head against the ground, remark- 
ing, " The honor due to me consists in people crawl- 
ing before me less and in serving me and the state 
with more zeal and fidelity." 

Peter made complete the subjection of the Church 
to the State (1691), abolishing the patriarchate and 
founding the Holy Synod at St. Petersburg. The 
fortunes of the peasantry suffered between his death 
(1725) and the accession of Catharine II., in 1762. 

This gifted woman did much to lift the disabilities 
of the dissenters from the Orthodox Church, and she 
invited foreigners to reside within her realm. She 
gave up the German Protestant faith to identify her- 
self more fully with the Russians, and was wont to 
say, " Freedom, thou soul of all things, without thee 
everything is dead." " I want the laws obeyed, but 
I don't want to have slaves." " If you have truth 
and reason as allies, you can give them to the peo- 
ple." " Her tolerance toward the sectarians not only 
protected them from the fanaticism of the ecclesias- 
tics, but secured for them certain rights." — (l^oble.) 

Passing over the short reign of Paul, sometimes 
called The Mad, who was strangled by his courtiers. 



RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY. 315 

to his son Alexander I. (known as " The Blessed "), 
we find he followed up this humane policy of Catha- 
rine. He abolished torture, put an end to confisca- 
tion of property, restricted the application of cor- 
poral punishment, reduced taxation, reformed the 
criminal code, and founded schools and universities. 

This unified empire was doubtless an improvement 
on the divided federal arrangements of the Rurik 
family; the autocracy of the Tsars was better than 
the incessant civil war in which the country was held 
by the Varyag princes. " Yet the amelioration thus 
secured was purchased at an enormous price, and its 
burden fell, not on the high and mighty, in w^hose in- 
terest the state was magnified and embellished, but 
upon the humbled and yet withal the largest class in 
the empire — the peasantry.'' 

" It is the contrast between the degradation of this 
class and the luxurious magnificence which it fed 
through centuries of serfdom that makes the story of 
the common people — originally called the Smerdi, 
' ill-smelling/ the ^ black ' people — one of the most 
tragic chapters in Russian history." — (E^oble.) 

Just such a chapter was inaugurated by the acces- 
sion of Nicholas L, upon the death of his brother 
Alexander I., in 1825, his elder brother Constan- 
tino having relinquished his right to the throne in or- 
der to marry the woman of his choice. Nicholas 
proposed to carry out the plans of Peter the Great, 
to make Russia the greatest military power in 
Europe, and to extend his dominions into Asia. 



316 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

Everything in his vast empire was made subservient 
to this imperial end. The Caucasus lay in his way, 
and he bent his energies to reduce it to subjection. 

As this country has recently been brought to our 
notice as a former home of the Doukhobors, it may 
be in place to say that Georgia, Circassia, Mingrelia, 
Daghestan, Russian Armenia, Ehristan and Kara- 
back are all included within its boundaries, and that 
the Caucasian Mountains run through it diagonally 
from the shores of the Caspian to those of the Black 
Sea. Since 1802 disaffected troops and political 
prisoners, to say nothing of thousands of dissenters 
from the Russian Church, have found their graves 
in its frontiers. One of the bravest defenders of 
that country was the Caucasian Prophet-chief 
Schamyl, who held the Russians at bay for twenty- 
five years; and when he surrendered, in 1859, he was 
pensioned by the Russian government. He after- 
wards lived at Kalooga on the Oka as an inti- 
mate friend of the imperial family, because of 
his personal attachment to the Tsar, who treated him 
so humanely. 

The inhabitants are a mixture of many races, no 
less than seventy languages being spoken in Tiflis 
alone. Some of these tribes have been there from 
time immemorial, while others are thought to be the 
descendants of the crusaders. Their complexion and 
features are European, their dress and military 
equipments are mediaeval rather than Asiatic, and 
though Russia nominally owns the country, with its 




Schamyl, 

The Circassian Chief and Prophet, 1797-1871. 



RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY. 317 

mountain fastnesses and pastures and fruitful val- 
leys, its inhabitants are only partially subdued, and 
they have long successfully resisted the invasion of 
their Slavonic neighbors. 

Queen Victoria's estimate of Tsar Nicholas I., 
after his visit to her in 1844, is interesting and doubt- 
less correct, viz. : '^ There is much about him that I , 
cannot help liking, and I think his character is one 
that should be understood and looked upon for once 
as it is. He is stern, reserved, with strict principles, 
which nothing on earth can make him change. Very 
clever I do not think him, and his mind is not a cul- 
tivated one ; his education has been neglected. He is 
not, I am sure, aware of the dreadful cases of indi- 
vidual misery that he often causes, for I can see by 
various instances that he is kept in ignorance of 
many things, although he thinks he is very just. His 
feelings are strong. He feels kindness deeply, and 
his love for his children, indeed for all children, is 
very great." 

Alexander 11. did not resemble his father in dis- 
position, and it is said that his mildness was a great 
disappointment and annoyance to the Emperor 
Mcholas. He is described as a kind-hearted, liberal- 
minded man, although a despot. There was a great 
contrast between him and the stern, stiff, sergeant- 
major-like bearing of his father. Every inch of him 
bespoke the well-bred nobleman; very rich, very 
good-tempered, affectionate to his children, a man 



318 THE DOUKHOBORS IN EUSSIA. 

fond of a good dinner, of shooting, of hunting, and of 
making everybody comfortable — himself included. 

During his reign a marvelous amount of reform 
was set on foot. The emancipation act of 1861 lib- 
erated fifty million serfs, at a cost to the government 
of $500,000,000. One expression in a manifesto that 
he issued to the people has a very different note from 
that characterizing the usual imperial uhase, " By 
the combined efforts of the government and 
the people, I hope," said he, " the public admin- 
istration will be improved, and that justice and 
mercy will reign in the courts of law." 

When Alexander 11. came to his throne (1856), 
Russia had not recovered from the Crimean war — 
that most inexcusable international blunder and 
<;rime. The methods in vogue throughout the agri- 
<jultural districts were primitive. There were only 
«ix hundred miles of railroad, and hardly any other 
roads worthy of the name over an enormous terri- 
tory. " The Emperor applied himself at once to the 
peaceful work of reform, and carried it out with 
skill, tact, and, above all, with an ease which a 
foreign people is hardly able, at present, to appreci- 
ate." In twenty-five years a work was done in Rus- 
sia which it has taken a century to accomplish in 
England. Every town of any size has now its rail-r 
road connections, and steamers ply upon the rivers, 
^ven of Siberia. Gladstone says of this monarch, 
-after his assassination : " The sole labor of a devoted 
life was with the deceased sovereign to improve his 



RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY. 319 

inheritance for the benefit of his subjects and of man- 
kind." He recognized the herculean task he had un- 
dertaken, for, in 1879, he said, in a speech: " We 
have great tasks yet before us. There is much more 
to be done which must wait until the existiag pas- 
sions are appeased. If I must die before such re- 
forms are accomplished, I trust they will be carried 
out by my successor." 

Had Alexander III. used the supreme moment 
which Providence placed in his hands, to promulgate 
the Constitution his father had signed and ordered 
to be published on the morrow;* if he had kept his 
first resolution to change nothing in this beneficent 
instrument of reform, saying to his minister, Loris- 
Melikov, '^ This shall be my father's bequest to his 
people," his name would have gone down to poster- 
ity with praise, and the cause of religious and civil 
freedom would have been advanced among his one 
hundred million subjects." How often in human 
history has the action of a moment seemed to decide 
the destiny of a nation ! If one were disposed to be 
fatalistic such an event as this might tend to con- 
firm the thought, but the law of human progress can- 



• " I have just signed a paper, which I hope will produce 
a good impression upon Bussia and show that I am ready 
to give her all that it is possible to give. To-morrow it will 
be published. I have given the order," were the words of 
Alexander II. to his new consort a few minutes before leav- 
ing the Winter Palace on the morning he was assassinated 
(Third month 13th, 1881). 



320 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

not be violated forever or the demands of justice 
eternally ignored. 

The Liberator was succeeded by the Persecutor. 
The Procurator of the Holy Synod, C. P. Pobiedo- 
nostzev, who had been tutor to the new Tsar, brought 
his influence to bear, and the Minister of the Interior 
received an order in the middle of the night coun- 
termanding the publication of the imperial document 
(Manifesto), upon which the new Tsar had previously 
written, " Very well done.'' 

The condition of the Tsar's mind at this time is 
graphically set forth by a writer of the period : " He 
was as bewildered and helpless as a man suddenly 
aroused from a profound slumber by a murderous 
onslaught of robbers. His advisers could offer him 
no help. They hopelessly contradicted each other 
and themselves. The one asked for a constitution, 
another advocated status quo; his own brother 
pleaded for a speedy return to the iron rule of his 
grandfather Nicholas. 

" The air was saturated with treason ; the very 
palace was believed to harbor an imperial protector 
of assassins. 

" The Emperor found himself face to face with an 
invisible power of darkness, with no one to stand be- 
tween him and it, or to stretch out a helping hand. 
To crown all, he had no motive power within himself, 
no stimulus to action, no goal and no ideal. 

" No one of his advisers rose to the level of the 
occasion, not one had faith in him, much less in his 



RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY. 321 

methods. It was under these conditions that his 
teacher, Pobiedonostzev, on being called to the Im- 
perial presence, came prepared with a complete sys- 
tem of policy, a soothing religion, an inspiring faith 
and a glorious ideal. 

" He played to perfection the part of Samuel to 
the Russian monarch. He proclaimed that every- 
thing had taken place in accordance with the inscru- 
table will of God, who had chosen the Tsar as His 
anointed servant to lead His favorite people out of 
the wilderness of sin and misery. 

" The halcyon days of Nicholas I. were to be 
brought back under infinitely more favorable condi- 
tions. Eeligion was to be reinstated in her place, and 
the Lord was to be ruler in the land; in a word, God 
was God and the Tsar was His Prophet." 

Count Ignatiev, otherwise called the " Father of 
Lies," became Minister of the Interior upon the ac- 
cession of Alexander III., and such a chapter of Rus- 
sianization began as was scarcely ever attempted be- 
fore by any Tsar. 

The Emperor never attended the council of his 
ministers, who were obliged to submit to him person- 
ally every measure they wished to enact. 

He is not to be held entirely responsible for the 
persecutions permitted in Russia, as they generally 
originate with the Holy Synod. 

" The people repose implicit confidence in the 
Tsar's wisdom and justice. He is absolute master 
of the life and property of every man within his do- 



322 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

minions, and no exception may be taken to his or- 
ders. The occasional blunders lie makes, however 
heavy they may be, must be borne with patience, as 
they can only be temporary. The Tsar will redress 
the evil as soon as he is informed on the matter." 

" Eussia for the Kussians " became the imperial 
policy under Alexander III., and so he attempted to 
root out every foreign custom. The Finns first fell 
under this ban. These loyal, prosperous and con- 
tented subjects were subjected to the most humili- 
ating denationalization. 

" Their postal system, far superior to that of the 
Russian, was completely remodeled; Parliamentary 
privileges were rescinded, although the latter had 
been solemnly guaranteed to them by himself; the 
press in the principality was curtailed, and autonomy 
in the matter pertaining to customs duties abolished ; 
indeed, the whole nation was treated as if they were 
rebels on the eve of an unsuccessful rising." 

The Germans inhabiting the Baltic Provinces, 
Esthonia, Livonia and Courland, next received atten- 
tion, because of the " most affectionate solicitude of 
the ruler of all the Russians." Their schools were 
limited, and the Russian language made obligatory 
in all of them; in short, liberalism and sectarianism 
were stamped out. The Poles were, perhaps, the 
chief victims of this pan-Slavism. Under the reigns 
of the Emperors Mcholas I. and Alexander II. they 
had been practically dispossessed of their property, 
and in many cases reduced to beggary. They were 



RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTOEY. 323 

hanged by thousands, because of their faithfulness to 
their convictions. 

A modern writer * sums up the domestic policy of 
Alexander III. thus; " I^aturally a man of conserva- 
tive instincts, and driven partly by circumstances, 
partly by irresponsibility, into illiberal and reaction- 
ary extremes, Alexander III. has for some time de- 
voted himself to stamping out of Russia all non-Rus- 
sian elements and setting up an image, before which 
all must fall down and worship, of a Russia, single, 
homogeneous, exclusive, self-sufficing, self-contained. 
Foreign names, foreign tongues, a foreign faith, par- 
ticularly if the former are Teuton, and the latter is 
Lutheran, are vexed, or prohibited, or assailed. For- 
eign competition, commercial or otherwise, is crushed 
by heavy dead weights hung around its neck." 

One of the most unwise acts of this sovereign was 
the suppression of education, that bulwark of prog- 
ress. The common people were debarred the privi- 
lege of universities and gymnasia, and in many in- 
stances even of parish schools. " The Govern- 
ment," says E. B. Lanin, " is resolved to reduce the 
people to a condition of abject unreasoning slavish- 
ness, "which will permit them to be dealt with like 
cattle. If the nation were as ready to dispose of its 
soul, or the remnant of its soul, at the beck of its one 
hundred thousand tsar-lets, the ideal of the Russian 
government might be considered realized. But be- 

•Creorge Ciirzon, in his work, ''^ Russia in Central Asia." 



324 THE DOUKHOBOKS IN RUSSIA. 

tween them and this goal stand a few million Bas- 
TcolnihSy on whose victory or defeat depends the fu- 
ture of the Russian government." 

The press was suppressed with even more viru- 
lence by this Tsar pan-Slavist, who considered the 
tendering of journalistic advice a menace to his im- 
perial rights. 

" There was silence in all languages from the Ural 
to the Prut/' could as truly be said in his reign as in 
the reign of his grandfather, Mcholas I. 

" The nation was virtually dumb, for it had no sort 
of parliamentary representation, and no press worth 
the name.'' — (Lowe.) 

It is almost inconceivable that in the last decade 
of the nineteenth century such a benighted policy 
could be carried on by the most powerful monarch 
in Europe. " ]^o epoch or country has ever yet of- 
fered so disgraceful a spectacle of systematic demor- 
alization," is the testimony of one who knew whereof 
he wrote. Yet there were minds who could not be 
silenced, and there is scarcely a more heroic instance 
of true patriotism than that of Mary Tzebrikova, 
" after she resolved to address the Tsar on behalf of 
her fellow countrymen, in spite of every custom or 
law, which made such an act penal in the highest 
degree." 

She was an accomplished lady in her fifty-fourth 
year, when she wrote to " his Majesty " as follows: 
" And after all, what is the use of all this oppression 



RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY. 325 

and persecution? Wliy should free speech be sup- 
pressed and public justice abolished ? 

" Is it for the sake of peaceful development, or is 
it for the sake of autocracy; that is, really for the 
advantage of the officials ? 

" Your Majesty^s self is proved powerless to strug- 
gle against abuses, even if the court for judging of 
ministers should be really instituted. You are in- 
evitably powerless, because all the imperial measures 
are founded upon the same slavery and enforced si- 
lence of society. 

" Freedom of speech, personal security, freedom 
of meetings, full publicity of justice, education easy 
of access to all talents, suppression of administrative 
despotism, the convoking of a national assembly, for 
which all classes can choose their delegates — ^in these 
alone is our salvation." 

She subscribed herself, after saying: " You are 
one of the most powerful monarchs in the world ; and 
I am a working unit in the one hundred millions 
whose fate you hold in your hands; but none the less, 
I, in my conscience, fully recognize my moral right 
and duty as a Russian woman to say what I have 
said." 

And what effect did such an appeal have upon 
Alexander III. After reading it, he simply ex- 
claimed: "That is all very well, but what on the 
earth does all this matter to her ? " 

The letter was printed, however, and of course she 



326 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

was duly exiled for two years to " a remote corner of 
the empire." 

I have gone into some details concerning this 
period in order to place before the reader an ade- 
quate picture of the present conditions, both civil 
and social, which confront the dissenters, whether 
peace-loving or otherwise disposed, in this unhappy 
land. 

The awful famine of 1890-'91 had brought twenty 
millions of the inhabitants to death's door, through- 
out a district three thousand miles long and from -^ve 
hundred to one thousand miles wide. The general 
distress, added to the effort to root out all races and 
religions other than pure ones " of ancient and holy 
Russia,'' was enough to bring grief to the strongest 
and most hopeful. 

We will not pass away, however, from this sad 
condition without first expressing a word of sympa- 
thy for this ill-advised ruler, who must have had a 
most unenviable life, haunted continually with fear 
of meeting the same horrible fate as that of his own 
father. Think of him standing out on the desolate 
steppe, surrounded by those who had been killed at 
his side ; the car he and his family occupied being ter- 
ribly wrecked, his wife trembling as she moved 
among the dead and dying, and his little girl with her 
arms about his neck, exclaiming, " Oh, papa, now 
they'll come and murder us all ! " And surely the 
situation would not fail to draw from the most stolid 
a sigh of pity. 



mn 



RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY. 327 

The Emperor died at Livadia on the first of Elev- 
enth month, 1894, and was succeeded by his son, 
Nicholas II., as autocrat of all the Russias, whose 
name will go down to posterity inseparably connected 
with the greatest international event of the nine- 
teenth century — the convening of the Peace Confer- 
ence, at The Hague, during the summer of 1899. 

This young ruler of one hundred million subjects 
seemed to give promise of a more enlightened policy 
than his father pursued, although he has been sadly 
handicapped by his ministers and his devotion to his 
father's memory. " As a child he was thoroughly 
conscientious, possessed of a wonderfully receptive 
mind, an excellent memory, sound judgment and 
great common sense." 

His mother has much influence with him, and she 
took a great interest in his education. It was she 
who prevailed with him to grant the liberation of 
the Doukhobors. 

He is most amiable in manner and generous in 
spirit, and if it were not for such advisers as Pobiedo- 
nostzev, doubtless his sorely persecuted subjects 
would receive greater evidence of these qualities. 

He traveled around the world in 1890-'91, and 
narrowly escaped assassination in Japan. His mar- 
riage to Princess Alix, granddaughter of Queen Vic- 
toria, took place shortly after his father's death. 

From these chapters we can see there is a dual sys- 
tem of government existing in Russia. The Mir^ in- 
stituted for the exclusive benefit of the peasants, is 



328 THE DOUKHOBORS IN RUSSIA. 

founded upon custom, while the district and provin- 
cial assemblies, to which the volosts appoint dele- 
gates, represent written law and the higher classes. 

The democratic instincts of the peasants continu- 
ally come into conflict with the autocratic rule of 
these elective assemblies — to say nothing of the Ex- 
ecutive Commission appointed by the Tsar to exercise 
an over-lordship — so we can easily account for the 
perpetual unrest which has perennially threatened 
the empire with revolution, apart from any religious 
dissent. And when we add to this the independent 
attitude of Christian faith, assumed by the Doukho- 
bors, we can clearly see how nothing but persecution 
awaited them. 



INDEX. 

Abramov, T., on the assimilation of religious ideas, 242; 

on removal of Doukhobors to the Caucasus, 262-264 

Alexander I., Emperor of Russia, favors the Doukhobors, 
245; visits the "Milky Waters" settlement, 248; 
A^sits Fi'iends' meeting in London, 250; sends to Eng- 
land for a Friend to reclaim bog lands, 252; follows 

policy of the Empress Catharine, 315 

Alexander II., Emperor of Russia, 317-319 

Alexander III., Emperor of Russia, 319-327 

Alexei Michailovich, Tsar of Russia, orders a revision of 

the Bible, 286 

Allen, M. A., Marriage, on the Doukhobors in Cyprus, 200, 201 1 
Allen, William, 57, 197, 242; meets Emperor Alexander I., 

250, 251; visits Doukhobors in the Crimea, 253 

Almanovsky, Ignaee, 221 ; addresses Doukhobor immigrants, 192 

Appeals of the Doukhobors for help, 228, 231 

Archangel, Peter Verigin banished to, 147 

Archbishop Gabriel, of St. Petersburg, report of, on the 

Doukhobors, 268-270 

Archer, Herbert P., 70, 232 

Archimandrite Innokenty, dialogue between three Douk- 
hobors and, 270-279 

Ashworth, John, 11, 227 

Bailey, William L., 126 

Baker, Nellie, educational service of, 82-85, 221 

Barcroft, Joseph, 11 

Bartlett, Jane W., 10 

Bath houses, Doukhobor, 63 

Batoum, party of Doukhobors sails from, to Cyprus, 172; 
first shipload of DoukTiobors sails from, to America, 

185; second shipload sails, 187 

Beasts of burden, liberated by some Doukhobors, 18; use 

of held to be unscriptural, 18, 50 

Beliefs of the Doukhobors, 279-284 

Bellows, Hannah, 85 

Bellows, John, 11, 181, 184, 295, 298 

Bellows, William, 11, 201 

Benson, Jane, " Quaker Pioneers in Russia," 250 

"Bernard, Lally " (May Fitz-Gibbon), on educational work 
among the Doukhobors, 84; on thi Doukhobor women 
as pioneers, 99; on the insufficiency of modern ideas 
of education, 97; on the Doukhobor women drawing 
the plough, 101; advocates cause of Doukhobors, 227; 

on Anna de Carousa, 230 

Besant, Annie, on need of moral earnestness, 93 

Bible, need of accurate knowledge of, to the Doukhobors, 88 
Bible Society, British, sends Bibles to the Doukhobors, 

266; receives letter of thanks, 267 

Binscarth, 21 

Births and deaths, registration of, 119 




330 Index, 

Birukov, P., on the Doukhobors, 10, 135 

Bodyansky, A., 114, 132, 137, 229 

Bogolubsky, Andrei, 310 

Boyle, Nurse, 34 

Boynikov, Ivan, 215 

Brooks, Edmund W., 185 

Buchanan, Robert and Elizabeth, 49, 89, 227 

Bulmer, J. T., welcomes the Doukhobors, 192 

Burning of arms by the Doukhobors, 151-155 

California, Doukhobors prospecting in, 232 

Catharine II., Empress of Russia, 314 

Caucasus, divisions of, 316; removal of the Doukhobors 

to the, in 1842, 53, 256 

Ceremonial of the Greek Church fascinating to the Slavs, 241 

Children, good behavior of the Doukhobor, 92 

Choodyakov, Savili Feodorevitch, 45 

Christian Herald, on educational work of Nellie Baker, 82-85 

Circassians, 54 

Cleighills, General, 306 

Collections in aid of the persecuted Doukhobors, 160; in 

aid of emigration, 171 

Comfort, George M., 126 

ommunal System, P. Kropotkin on the, 113 

Communism a religious principle with the Doukhobors... 147« 
Conference of representatives from the Yorkton and Swan 

River colonies, Ill 

Constantine Paulovitch, Grand Duke, 305 

Cossacks quartered on Doukhobor villages, , 156 

Cost of living, low, among Doukhobors ,. . . . 219 

Credit of the Doukhobors, 108 

Crerar, James S., , 70, 220 

Crimean War, Ivan Mahortov in, 58-61 

Cruelty, alleged, of Doukhobor men to women, denied, 216 

Cyprus, climate of, unsuited to Doukhobors, 200 

Cyprus, Doukhobor settlers in, removed to Canada, 201 

Cj'prus, emigration to, 172 

Cyprus fever, 105 

Daily Star (Montreal), on the Doukhobor's gratitude,.. 193 

Danube, Doukhobors petition for settlement on, 246 

Debate on the Doukhobors, in the Dominion House of 

Commons, 210 

De Carousa, Anna, 220, 230 

Dialogue between three Doukhobors and the Archiman- 
drite Innokenty, 1792, 270-279 

Dickericks, T., 56 

Djunkolesky, General, 242 

Doukhobor children, politeness of, 193 

Doukhobor Committee of London Yearly Meeting, 35 

Doukhobor, origin of the name, 4 

Doukhobor worship, Stephen Grellet on, 254, 255 



Index, 331 

Elizavetpol, 145 

Elkinton, Joseph S., ... .17, 53, 104, 126, 188, 191, 194, 195, 197 
ElkintoH; Joseph S., denies charges that Doukhobor men 

are cruel to the women, 202, 206, 209, 216, 227, 236 

Embroidery of the Doukhobor women, 103 

Emigration of the Doukhobors from Russia permitted,... 171 

Empress Alexandra, letter of Peter Verigin to, 166 

English language, desire of the Doukhobors to learn, .... 81 

Exiles in Siberia, ^15, 223, 224; families of, 64-66 

Exiles in Yakoutsk, 198 

Evans. Captain, on the Doukhobors, 192 

Evans; William, 126, 203, 204, 206, 207, 209 

Factional division among the Doukhobors, 147 

Farm machinery, improved, purchased by Doukhobors, . . . 108 
Fever, Cyprus or malarial, among the Doukhobors, .... 105, 202 

Filiberte, Madame, '. . 261 

First shipload of Doukhobors sails from Batoum, 185 

Fiske, John, on religious persecution, 142 

Formalism, protest against, ever recurring in Russian his- 
tory, 241 

Foxwarren, 25, 26 

Friend, The (Philadelphia), on arrival of Doukhobors,. . . . 196 
Fruit, Doukhobors' need of, 44, 234 

Gabriel, Archbishop, of St. Petersburg, report of, on the 

Doukhobors, 268-270 

Galician settlers in Canada, poverty and ignorance of, 67, 68 

Ghengis Khan, 311 

Gidley, Job S., 188,190,194,219-221,224 

Ginseng root, Doukhobor women digging, 51 

Gladstone on Emperor Alexander II., 318 

Good Spirit Lake, colony on, 47, 82, 85, 89 

Gorelofka, 45 

Government schools, the Doukhobors' suspicion of, 77 

Grellet, Stephen, 57, 197, 242, 251, 253-255 

Halifax, Doukhobors arrive at, 189 

Harvev, William B., 227 

Hilkov, Prince D. A., 186, 194, 197, 203, 206, 209 ; takes two 
Doukhobor pioneers to Cyprus, 171; visits Canada, 
173; leaves the Russian army, 173-175; his children 

taken from him, 175; boards the Lake Huron, 191 

Homestead laws, Canadian, 212 

Hospitality of the Doukhobors, 52 

House of Commons, Canadian, debate in, on Doukhobors, 210 
Houses of the Doukhobors, how constructed, 57, 99-101, 

218, 219, 222, 223, 232. 
Huss, John, Doukhobors said to be descended from fol- 
lowers of, r ^ 242 

Hutchinson, Alfred, and wife, 227 



332 Index, 

Ignatiev, Count, 321 

Immigration Hall in Winnipeg, 31 

Innokenty, Archimandrite, dialogue between three Douk- 

hobors and, 270-279 

Ivan, Ewan, 69 

Ivan the Terrible, 311, 312 

Jansen, Cornelius, 227 

Jansen, Peter, 20S 

Jesus, second coming of, expected, 18 

Kalmykov, . 146 

Kalmykova, Loukerya Vasilyevna, 146, 147 

Kapoustin, 146 

Kars, 145 

Kars, Doukhobors from, arrive at Quebec, 203; letter 

from, to Friends, 209 

Kiev, sacked by Andrei Bogolubsky in 1169, and by Ghen- 

gis Khan in 1240, 310, 311 

Konkin, Vassili, 22 

Kovalevsky, " Russian Political Institutions," 13 

liropotkin. P., on the communal system, 113 

Lrtfce Huron, Doukhobor emigrant ship, arrives at Halifax, 189 
Lake Superior arrives at Halifax, 195; brings survivors 

from Cyprus, 201 

Laktev, Katrina, persecuted, 244 

Lands assigned to the Doukhobors, 212 

Lanskoi, Minister, 258 

Lapukhin, Senator, on persecutions of Doukhobors, . .243, 245 
"Large Party" faction of the Doukhobors, ... . . . • •^•j^ • • 147^ 

Leaders of the Doukhobors, : 7"."': 146"* 

Lebedeov, Matthew, refuses military service, 149, 150 

Leonhardt, Frederick, 48, 230 

Lieven, Count, 250 

London Yearly Meeting, appeal of, for help for the Douk- 
hobor emigration, 178 

London Yearly Meeting, Doukhobor Committee of, 35 

Loom, " Communal," 104 

McCreary, William F., commissioner of immigration, ... 62, 226 

Mahortov, Ivan, 33, 57-61, 111, 253 

ManitoM Free Press on the decline of "pilgrimage" 

craze, 28; on the arrival of Peter Verigin, 68-76, 131 

Manual dexterity of the Doukhobors, 95 

Marriage and divorce, 117 

Marriage scarf, 45 

Marriages of Doukhobors on shipboard, 194 

Matrossov, Simeon, refuses oath, 246 

Maude, Aylmer, "Tolstoi and His Problems," 11; on the 
martyr spirit of the Doukhobors, 85; on the good be- 
havior of Doukhobor children, 91; letter of to the 
Doukhobors, 120; on the creditable history of the 



Index. 333 

Doukhobors, 146; negotiations with Canadian Gov- 
ernment, 173, 182; on the "Milky Waters" settle- 
ment, 265; on Doukliobor belief, 279 

Mavor, Prof. James, 182, 185 

Mennonites, 35 ; Mennonite Reserve, 42 

Mercer, Dr., 208 

"Milky Waters" colony, 6,63,245-249 

Millwood, .* 19 

Minnedosa " pilgrims " arrive at, 18 

Mir, the, 112 

Misrepresentations concerning the Doukhobors, 17 

Moffatt, , acting commissioner, 70 

Mohammedans, influence of the Doukhobors on the, .... 263 

Molokans, 33 

Montanists, the. Backhouse and Tyler on, 5 

Montreal WeeJcly Witness, The, on fanaticism among Douk- 
hobors, 27 

Montreal Witness, on the Doukhobors, 190 

Morland, Helen, educational work of, 85 

Morning Chronicle (Halifax), on the arrival of the Douk- 
hobors, 191 

Morris, Samuel, 126 

Mosquitoes, 49, 51 

Nature, Doukhobors appreciative of, 88 

Nature worship of the early Russians, 239 

Neave, Joseph J., 295-298 

Needlework of the Doukhobor women 103 

Nicholas I., Emperor of Russia, 53, 257, 261, 315 

Nicholas II., Emperor of Russia, 327, 328 

Nikon, Patriarch, revises the text of the Russian Bible,, . 286 

Noble, Edmund, " Russia and the Russians," 13 

North colony, location of, 47 

Novitsky, Orest, 266, 279, 281; "History of the Doukho- 
bors," 10 ; on government of Doukhobor leaders, 146 

Nurses, Russian, among the Doukhobors, 220 

Oldenburg, Duke of, 250 

Onishenko, 292 

Osburn, Rose M., 221 

Ovens, Doukhobor, 44, 45, 205, 219, 223 

Overconscientiousness of the Doukhobors a psychological 

problem, 50 

Patriarchal authority among the early Russians, 239 

Paul the Mad, '. 314 

Pauperism, unfounded charges of, against Doukhobors,. . 98 

Pedley, Frank, superintendent of emigration, 18 

Persecutions in the Caucasus, 39 

Persecutions of Doukhobors, Senator Lapukhin on, 243 

Peter the Great, 313, 314 

Petition of Yorkton Doukhobors to the Canadian Gov- 
ernment, 115 



334 Index. 

Petrof ka, 35 ; Petrof ka Ferry, 36 

Philadelphia, Friends of, appeal for help to the Doukho- 

bors, 224 ; forward supplies, 230 

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, address to the Doukhobors, 

120; epistle of encouragement, 232 

Pilgrimage " in search of Jesus," 18 

Pinkerton, Robert, visit of, to the Doukhobors, 266, 267 

Planidin, Paul, 69 

Ploughing with women instead of horses, 101, 215 

Pobiedonostzey, Constantine, Procurator of the Holy 

Synod, 294, 308, 320 

Pobirohiu; 146 

Podovinnikov, Anna, 57, 62, 70 

Podovinnikov, Ivan, 63 

Politeness of the Doukhobors, 109 

Ponomarev, M., on primary schools in Russia, 86 

Popov, Simeon Nicolavevitch, . . 44 

Poterpevshe, * 48-66, 111, 112 

Poverty of the Doukhobors on arrival in Canada, 98 

"Prophet," self-styled, teachings of a, among the Douk- 
hobors, 17 

Prosperity, beginnings of, 106 

Psychological problem, overconscientiousness of the Douk- 
hobors, a, 50 

"Quaker Pioneers in Russia," by Jane Benson, 13; ex- 
tract from, 250 

Quarantine, Doukhobor emigrants detained in, 195, 203 

Quartering of Cossacks on Doukhobor villages, 156 

Quebec, Cyprus Doukhobors arrive at, 202; Kars Doukho- 
bors arrive, 203 

Railroads, work upon, sought by Doukhobors, 48, 228, 232 

Registration of homesteads, 116; of births and deaths, . . 119 

Reid, Dr. J. T., on the Doukhobors, 27 y/' 

Religious awakening among the Doukhobors, 148 ■ 

Renaissance, Russia unaffected by, 241 

Reply of the Canadian authorities to the petition of the 

Yorkton Doukhobors, 127 

Response of the Doukhobors to epistle of encouragement 

from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 233 

Revision of the Russian Bible, ordered by the Tsar Alexei 

Michailovich, 286 

Rhoads, Jonathan E., . . . .^ 104,126,236 

Rickman, Nathaniel and wife, 251 

Rieben, Simeon, 69 

Robitz, Maria, 220 

Rosthern, 34 

Russell, Elbert, on the early Christians, 3 

" Russia and the Russians,'* Edmund Noble, 13 

" Russian Political Institutions," Kovalevsky, 13 



Index. 335 

Saskatchewan Doukhobors, not affected by fanaticism,. . 18 

Satz, Sasha, 220 

Saunders, Dr. William, on tlie Doukhobors, 218 

" Sawmill," Doukhobor, 62 

Schamyl, Prophet-Chief of the Caucasus, 310 

ScEism in the Eussian Church, 286-291 

School house built by Philadelphia Friends, 42 

School tax, Doukhobor's horse seized because of refusal to 

pay, 78 

Schools, primary, in Russia, 8G 

Scripture, quotations from, familiar to Doukhobors from 

oral instruction, 88 ; perverted interpretations of, ... . 89 

Scurvy, 105, 234 

Second shipload of Doukhobors sails from Batoum, 187 

Sergius Alexandrovitch, Grand Duke, 305 

Sergius, Bishop, 294 

Servants, faithfulness of the Doukhobors as, 49 

" Settlers' effects," law concerning, 213 

Sevastopol, naval battle off, 58, 59 

Shalayev, Nastasia, persecuted, 244 

Sharp, Isaac, 181 

Sherbinin, Michael, 34, 35, 39, 42, 48, 53, 67 

Siberian exiles. Friends asked to intercede for, ..207,208,224 

Sloughs, mud, in the prairie trails, 38,48,50,51,52 

" Small Party," faction of the Doukhobors, 147 

Small-pox on the hake Superior, 195 

Smart, James A., 189, 191 

Smith, Ephraim, 126 

Smith, J. Obed, Commissioner of Immigration, 31, 62 

Soulerjitzky, Leopold, 195, 197, 202 

South Colony, location of, 47 

Spiers, Charles W., colonization agent, 18; on the return 

of the " pilgrims," 28 

Stchirov, Michael, 268 

Steam bath, Doukhobor, 64 

Stundists, the 292-295 

Sturge, Wilson, 185, 201, 202 

St. John, Arthur, visits Russia and Cyprus in aid of Douk- 
hobors, 166; assists emigration from Cyprus, 201 

St. John, N. B., Doukhobors arrive at, 192 

Suharev, Ainkie and Timothy, 268 

*' Sunrise service," 32, 201 

Surrey, " Grandmother " Verigin's, 65 

Surriff, J. G., = 130 

Taylor, Captain, of the Lake Superior, 202 

Tchertkov, V., 10, 182, 183; "Christian Martyrdom in 

Russia," 10; helped to raise emigration fund, 171 

Thanks of the Doukhobors to their benefactors, 234 

Thunder HiU, Doukhobor colonv at, 218 

Tiflis, .' 145 



336 Index. 

Times, The (London), letter in, on the factional division 

among the Doukhobors, 148 

Tolstaev. Andrei, and wife, persecuted, 243 

Tolstoi, Count Leo, 8, 76, 259, 263; letter to The (London) 
Times, 148; appeal of, for help for the Doukhobor 

emigration, 177 

Tolstoi, Count Sergius, 195 

Transcaucasia, Doukhobor settlements in, 145 

" True Inspiration Society," 66 

Turanian prayer, a, 240 

Tzebrikova, Mary, 324, 325 

Vaccination of Doukhobors, 42 

Vam^y, Eliza A., conducts a dispensary among the Douk- 
hobors, 82, 84, 219-224 

Varyag, Rurik and Oleg, 309 

Vereschagin, Vassili, 42 

Verigin, Anastasia ("Grandmother"), 48,53,54,55,56,57,235 

Verigin, Gregory, 55, 56 

Verigin, Peter, 7, 11, 55, 56, 146, 235; arrival in Canada, 
68-76, 131; on primary education, 77; banished to 
Archangel and Siberia, 147-149; advises refusal of 
oaths and military service, 149; letter of to the Em- 
press Alexandra, 166; letter from, 223 

Verigin, Peter, the younger, 32 

Victoria, Queen, on Nicholas I., 317 

Vladimir, Prince, introduces Greek Christianity into 

Russia, 240 

Vorontzov, Prince, 261 

Wallace, D. M., "Russia," 13; on the power of the Mir 

over its members, 301-304 

Weaving and spinning among the Doukhobors, 103 

Welistchkina, Vera, 220 

" Wet Mountains " of the Caucasus, 54, 145 

Wheeler, Daniel, work of, in reclaiming bog lands near St. 

Petersburg, 252 

White Sand River, 53 

Wilkinson, John, 251 

Women, Doukhobor, common sense of the, 63, 90 

Women, Doukhobor, multifarious duties of, ..102-105,217,223 

Women of Canada provide for arriving Doukhobors, 193 

Women's Council, of Montreal, gifts of to Doukhobor chil- 
dren, 214; sends supplies for Doukhobors, 229 

World, The (New York), account of the "pilgrimage,"... 19 
Wurtemburg, King of, 250 

Yorkton and Swan River colonies, conference of represen- 
tatives from, Ill 

Yorkton, Doukhobor colonies at, 17 

Zherebtzov, Chamberlain, 248 







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